


A Couple of Turns

by hokorixxx



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Model Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), side!mikenana
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:08:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22191547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hokorixxx/pseuds/hokorixxx
Summary: Levi Ackerman was one of the hottest celebrities in Japan even right after his debut, garnering the attention of all ages with his face plastered on every magazine book you may stumble upon. Work was piling up and it was getting hectic.However, in the midst of those piled-up stress and getting lost, he was saved by a peculiar woman who started to offer him pastries.---Hange frowned at a thought, "You're not here to kill me, are you?""Do I look like one to you?" Levi replied rather grouchily.---In short, Levi is a celebrity and Hange is a random stranger who doesn't even know him.
Relationships: Hange Zoë & Levi, Hange Zoë/Levi
Comments: 90
Kudos: 255





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I seriously don't know why I wrote this. It just happened suddenly while I was studying for exams. My brain wouldn't let me study properly if I won't write the story in. Basically, this just happened in a whim. I didn't even proof-read this lmao.
> 
> Please do enjoy! haha

There were murmurings, whispers and the pacing of the people's walk went slower. They had their eyes on a certain raven-haired man who was walking down the street just now, wearing black polarized sunglasses and a dark coat hovering over his shoulders. He wore blue jeans and matched it with a high neck white long-sleeve.

He was grimacing, not exactly greeting the women who went all over him as he crossed his arm the whole time.

"I've been your fan for a long time, Levi!" The teenage girl who was walking beside him suddenly says, extending her arms, showing one of his magazines. "Can I have your autograph?"

Just because of that one person, the others suddenly grabbed their magazines out of their bags. It was pretty sunny and Levi doesn't really like getting exposed to the sun.

"Wait a little bit," he mumbles as he stopped walking.

The fangirls squealed and they were literally in the middle of the sidewalk. Levi could only curse at his manager who was supposed to go fetch him but has been already an hour late.

Well, he didn't possess any car since he thinks it's quite expensive to buy one and he doesn't really like going out. Plus, the agency is conveniently nearby so why not take a walk, right?

But seeing now, he should've worn something else that wouldn't get their attention like this!

Just before he could grab one of the magazines to sign it, the fangirls suddenly went into chaos. They were pushing each other, eager to get their magazine signed and they even went as far as hitting each other. The raven-haired man could only deadpan at the scene.

Then, a certain realization stung him hard. 

Literally everyone was looking at the commotion behind him. It's a rather convenient situation, with the commotion deviating all the supposed attention that was directed at him, he could really get the shit out of it.

Without further ado, he tried to sneak himself away from the crowd. It was the first time he felt thankful for being short seeing why he slipped so easily from the annoying-ass crowd.

When he finally slipped through, he dashed through a certain corner, his hands clenching the fabric of his coat so it won't go off.

It was a dark alleyway and there was a lot of junked garbage. He snorted in disgust, making his way carefully through the filthy road, trying to not dirty his white sneakers.

He turned on to many corners on that, his head almost spinning in adrenaline on how maze-like this place was. Even though there was little light from above, it was enough for him to see the running rats and crawling cockroaches and some even flew from every direction. The scene almost made him faint. 

From afar, there was a seeping light on a certain corner. Without thinking much, he headed towards it rather grouchily, cursing at every step.

Finally out, the place came into plain view. He was at the back of a certain building; he couldn't make out what the place was. It was apparently a dead-end for him and the only way out was to enter the building through the backdoor.

The situation has become more troublesome for the poor model. 

He fished for his phone in his pockets and he could only curse in frustration upon realizing that he left in his apartment with the fear that it might slip out from his pocket.

He bit on his lower lip, thinking of ways to get the hell out of this place. Should he just go back from where he came in? But the thought of walking through that disgusting shit got the raven-haired man's headache.

In the middle of his thoughts, which is mostly reprimanding his self and cursing every now and then, the backdoor suddenly opened.

Levi abruptly stops as he took in the appearance of a bespectacled brunette, who had her hazel eyes blown open and mouth agape. Her hand was still on the doorknob, standing frozen by the door.

There was a deafening silence for a moment. Until the brunette suddenly blinks which made the raven-haired blink back and out of a sudden, the woman broke into a fit of laughter.

"Oh my god!" She was laughing, index finger pointing at him, "I didn't expect to seriously get one but—"

"What the hell?" Levi cursed, scowling at her.

The brunette stopped laughing then looked at the man properly, "Hey, where did you come from?" Asking, she eyed him from head to foot then talks again, "You don't look like a thief considering what you're wearing."

The raven-haired man only stared back at her. He pointed at the alley, "There."

"Oh!" She says after turning her head at the alley then faced back at him, "Fishy, why would someone like you go through that? It's all filthy and there are a lot of insects out there like rats and cockroaches."

Levi was never talkative and the woman was asking a lot of questions.

Noticing the silence, Hanji frowned at a thought, "You're not here to kill me, are you?"

What the hell is this woman talking about? Levi replies rather grouchily, "Do I look like one to you?"

"Of course not!" She then giggles and Levi could only look at her as if the woman is being weird, "I don't know who you are but this is pretty convenient!"

"What?" He mumbles in disbelief then adds, "Look. I just wanted to get the hell out of here. Could you at least let me in?"

"Are you really not a thief?"

Confused, Levi firmly says, "No."

"Not a killer either?"

"No."

"How about a kidnapper?"

Irritated, Levi took off his glasses to show her who he was without rationally thinking. He then irritatedly answers the prolonged question with a stone-cold, "Obviously no."

The woman looked at Levi in disbelief, her hazel eyes widened at him.

Well, for fuck's sake, there was no other way out of this. He could only roll his eyes and crossed his arms at the fact that his identity is once again known and this stupid woman will surely get all over him, thrusting that shitty magazine of his right on his face, asking for a stupid autograph---

"Ooooh!" The brunette whistles, placed her hand on her hips as she smiled sheepishly, "You're actually such a cutie!"

He looked at her in disbelief.

The brunette frowned a little, "But hey, looks can be pretty deceiving." Shaking her head a little at the thought, she steps outside and Levi could only watch as the woman grabbed his arm, "Don't worry kiddo. You must've run away from home, yeah?" She paused a little, dragging him inside.

Still, in the midst of his bewildered state, he let himself get dragged by the woman.

As soon as they stepped inside, she adds, "Or you must've skipped school!"

There were a lot of things going on inside the raven-haired man's head and the first thing he could only think about was how the stupid bespectacled woman just called him a kid.

Letting go of his arm, she closed the door, chuckling, "Don't worry, I did things like that back then too---"

"I'm not a kid, four-eyes!" Levi's voice boomed. "Are your eyes really that fucking shitty?"

"Hey! You got such a foul mouth!" It was stupid, really. She was frowning at him, clearly not liking the way he talked. "That's not how you should talk to people older than you."

The brunette paused, an idea popped out inside her head.

"Well... I know I look that young but apparently I'm already 29, okay?" She smiles at him gently.

The smile was enough to irritate him further, "And I'm 32, shit glasses!"

Levi was fuming mad at her but the woman was lively as she headed towards another room, completely ignoring his remark. 

It was only when the raven-haired man realized that he is inside the brunette's home and the interior was dull and plain.

He followed her immediately, entering another door and bewilderment was the only thing he felt as he stared at the view right before his eyes.

There were trashes everywhere. Literally. Everywhere.

On the sofa was a couple of shirts, jeans and he swore he also saw a piece lingerie mixed with the pile of clothes. On the other side was her lit up laptop mixed with the crumple of papers occupying every space within reach.

"What the hell is this?"

Hanji snickers, "Well, this is my living room. Feel free to sit anywhere, mister 32 years-old."

"Where the hell are you making me sit? I'm not going anywhere within a filthy place like this!"

He shook his head in disbelief. Thinking how could the woman live in a place like this? It was a mystery to him how anyone can sleep and literally breathe in a place as messy as this is.

Looking down on his sneakers, he noticed the trail of dirt he just left on his footsteps. He shudders at the thought of filth following him around. Thus, he searched for a rug nearby and immediately went to stand on it, wiping the dirt under his shoe.

"It's a good thing, really." The brunette suddenly blabbers as she puts on a clean, thankfully, plate on the table which was just apparently beside him. 

Well, he failed to notice that and upon closer inspection, he saw a bunch of pastries on the table. 

"I made this earlier, expecting for a guest to come but they didn't manage to. I was really about to throw this out but just as I opened the door, you were suddenly there. I guess it was a sign, perhaps?"

He looked at each pastry carefully. It looked quite decent to be made by someone who lived in this place, which is her, who had a shit-eating grin on her face.

"I know it looks delicious but you still need to go wash your hands, kid." The brunette snickered as she went towards the sink and Levi's blood could only boil at the shit she spat out, "Germs can be very dangerous—"

"What made you think I'll eat something like that?" Levi scowls at her, looking at the pastries in disgust. "You must've poisoned it for all I know. I just want to get the hell out of here. Can't you show me the way already?"

The sound of the water splashing filled his ears. There was no definite response, only a merry humming came from the brunette.

He glared daggers at the woman, which was actually really pointless since the woman had her back faced on him. 

The raven-haired was pretty much insulted and frustrated, "I'm not a fucking kid. As you see, woman. I am Levi---"

It was to prove a point that he wasn't a kid. However, telling the stranger his name is pretty risky. Considering that she didn't recognize him by face, what if she would eventually if she'll happen to hear of his name?

Thus, he abruptly stops right before he could tell her his last name.

Wiping her hand with a clean cloth, the brunette dragged a chair out, "Okay then, shorty. Sit down now and take a taste of my new experiment!"

"I won't eat---"

The sound of his stomach grumbling made him shut up. The embarrassment lingered on his skin, creeping like goosebumps and he could only duck his reddening face. The brunette smiled at this and grabbed his wrist to drag him towards the sink.

"Now, wash your hands." She says, smiling ear to ear. "You can go home after eating."

He snatched his wrist away from her, "I don't need you to tell me that." He mumbles as he turned the faucet on, his hand made contact with the cold runny water.

"Well, Levi." She calls out, sitting down across the seat she dragged out for the raven-haired man and then says, "I'm Hange."

He rolled his eyes at this as he washed his hand thoroughly, soap slipping in on every finger. It was when he noticed the pile of dirty dishes right beside him and he could only stare at it in exasperation and disgust.

Turning around, he eyed the clean piece of plate on the table which was supposed to be for him. 

The four-eyed woman named Hange had both of her elbows on the table, leaning her chin on top of her intertwined fingers.

She tilted her head on her side, smiling as if a silent nudge for him to come over.

He looked at her intently as he sat down on the chair, "This better be not poisoned, four-eyes. I'll fucking sue you."

"Oh, come on." She pouts then pointed at a certain pastry with a strawberry jam on the outer layer, "This one is sweet. Apparently, it's best when matched with tea."

"Tea?" He raised an eyebrow at her. Levi had many ads about tea since he was fond of the product.

This woman is suspicious.

Noticing the odd look, Hange adds, "I don't really like tea but I had a friend who does. The reason why I happened to make a pastry fit for tea. But the thing is, I forgot to buy tea, unfortunately." She chuckles, apologetic.

Levi picked up the pastry she talked about. Picking it up with a fork, he looks at her, "Is there really no fucking poison in it?"

Hange playfully rolled her eyes at the repeated question all over again. She grabbed one of the cookies that the shorter man just picked up from and immediately ate it.

"See? I ate it." She says while munching on the cookie.

Levi looked at her with disgust, "Don't eat with your mouth full, shit glasses." Then he proceeds to munch on to the cookie.

It was sweet, really. 

But it wasn't the type of sweet that is too sweet for his taste buds. Levi isn't really fond of too much sweet thus it was beyond his expectation that he'd like the piece of pastry the woman made. 

He grabbed another one and munched on it, his steely grey eyes locked with the woman's hazel eyes across him.

He gave an unimpressed look, "Not bad."

"Really?" Hange beamed at him.

"Yeah, whatever." He grabbed another piece.

The brunette squeals then abruptly stood up, making her way towards the pile of crumpled papers with her laptop mixed within it. She grabbed her laptop, in a rather dangerous kind of way that almost made Levi choke on the snack that he was currently eating, watching her bringing it to the table where he's currently in.

"I have something to show you," It was a cheery tone, the kind of tone that Levi rarely hears.

The brunette was filled with excitement. It was literally glinting in her eyes as she pushed on to some buttons on the gadget eagerly. He only watched her as he slowly tried to take off the black coat he wore, draping it on the backrest of his chair.

His eyes wandered towards the picture frames sprawled out on the walls of her home. It was only certificated and there was one of her graduation photos, she was sitting on a high-end chair and had the same smile on her face.

The brunette's face hardly changed.

Hange looked up and noticed where the raven-haired man was staring at, "Oh. You're looking at my grad photo." She points out and Levi immediately averted his eyes away from it. "That was three years ago."

He didn't reply and kept on grabbing another bite of cookie. Hange typed in some words and after a few seconds, she turned her laptop around so that it would face the shorter man. He eyed the laptop like there was something wrong about it and glanced at the brunette who has anticipation written all over her face.

Sighing, he squinted his eyes to look at what was there. It was apparently a secret formula to the pastries she just baked and he could only deadpan at it. It was so thorough, exact and precise thus Levi could only snort at how complicated it looks at the same time.

It was more like a scientific formula.

"Yes, I just showed you my secret formula. You better be grateful, shorty." She turned her laptop back to her, then looks at Levi expectantly, "So what do you think?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "What?"

"About my formula."

"Oh," He gave a thoughtful look then nudged his head to the other side, "It was shitty."

"Shitty?" Hange gasps as she stood up. There was a look of disbelief on her face and Levi thinks that saying that must've been a bad idea after all. "I spent an entire week just for that. I've once again failed!"

She then scrambled towards another room. Coming out of the room, she had brought a box in her arms.

Putting it on the coffee table in the living room, she held out a measuring cup that is usually used in laboratories. "How about the pantries? Were they good?"

Feeling a little bit bad, he says, "I already said it's not bad."

Hange nods at him then brought the measuring cup with her towards the kitchen. Opening the fridge, she grabs a box of baking soda and starts to pour it into the measuring cup. She grabbed one of her measuring stick, which is seriously not fit in the kitchen.

Opening the fridge again, this time, she had a pitcher of water. Pouring it in another measuring cup, she held out something.

It was a thermometer, she was measuring how hot the water was.

With that, Levi abruptly stood up, eyebrows furrowed and he swore he couldn't believe what he just witnessed.

"You use those for baking these pastries?" He asked filled with confusion.

Hange looked at her with a neutral look on her face. Nodding at him like it wasn't a problem at all.

"Are you crazy, woman?" Levi questions, annoyance laced in his voice, "Those aren't baking utensils! What the hell?"

"Oh, come on. The only thing that matters is that it will taste great. What type of thing you use won't---"

"Even so, shithead." He mumbles, distressed at the whole ordeal. Grabbing his coat, he starts to walk towards a door that seemed to be the exit from the place, "I'm fucking leaving."

"Oi! Wait!" Hange calls out after him but he immediately turned the doorknob, door opening.

Opening the door, another place came into view. There were hundreds of bookshelves all around him, books of different colors and sizes went waltzing on his sight. He looked up, only to find out that the damn library had three floors and there was a huge chandelier in the middle.

It was a very huge library and he swore it was the most beautiful library he had ever seen.

"Did I just came through a fucking portal?" He grumbles, turning his head back to look at the filthy place which was absolutely in contrast with the library he just entered. 

Noticing an all so familiar book, he went closer to a nearby bookshelf for inspection.

Hange who ran after him could only watch the raven-haired man grabbed one of the books and checking it out. Thinking that the man might be fond of reading, she went near him, standing by his side.

"That's one of the oldest book." She pointed at the name of the author who was written in golden colors. "He's from the 90s."

Levi immediately puts it back, realizing that he got a little bit carried away and acted without thinking properly. Hange notices this, thus she reached for a book right ahead of them. 

Remembering that he's seriously in such a rush, the raven-haired man immediately stepped away from her, heading towards the double doors.

It was still early, the library isn't open yet. The four-eyed woman must've been the owner of the place when he found the name Hange Zoe in silver letters on the wall. He hurriedly walked down the small stairs but suddenly the brunette grabbed him by his wrist.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Hange asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

He scowled at her, "Unlike you, I still had a fucking job somewhere and I'm definitely screwed."

Hange looked at him, pondering at the words the shorter man spat out. A moment later, she grabbed his hand and forced it open, placing the book she had just reached out on his palm.

"Bring this with you," She says, smiling at him softly.

"I seriously don't have the time to give this back—"

Hange snorts at him and shook her head, "No! You can keep that, shorty. I'm giving it to you as some sort of souvenir you got from here."

He only stared at her as if she's being ridiculous.

"One look from you earlier, I already knew you're quite fond of reading books." She teased with that stupid goofy look on her face.

Sighing, he held the book on his hand tightly, "Fine." He mumbles and turned his back on her.

Opening the door, the sound of the zooming cars and daily chatters of the crowd fill his ears. It was in complete contrast with the silence lingering inside the library. He looked back, seeing the small smile on the brunette's face as she waved her hand enthusiastically.

"Bye, bye, kiddo."

He glared at her, closing the door shut right on her face.

That shitty woman.

"I'm definitely not coming back here." He muttered under his breath.

It was what Levi promised to himself but the way he stared at the book as he strode down the sidewalk says otherwise.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They meet once again!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this took me long to update. I'm almost done with my second fic after all! :)

The stars outside are twinkling and the night sky is pretty much clear. It was the scenery that Levi saw as he peeked through the curtains of his apartment.

There was a problem on hand.

He forgot to tell his manager which is Mike that he’d need some detergent to wash his clothes. Staring at the junk of cleanly piled clothes inside a basket, he could only frown at it. Leaving it until tomorrow unwashed would only worsen the stink and it is exactly what the raven-haired man feared.

Thus, he grabbed his phone and dialed it impatiently. No matter what time of the day it is, shit like these are still that big oaf’s job.

After a few dials, which worsen Levi’s irritation, the blonde man finally answered the call.

“What is it Levi? It’s ten pm at night.” The other man on the line immediately began, obviously not liking the bother.

Levi scowled at this, “I need you to buy me a detergent. Right now.”

This earned a mocking chuckle from the other line. Well, Levi was not exactly happy with the reaction he got.

“I’m awfully busy tonight. I’m with my girlfriend. I still have a lotta…” he drawled out the last word. “business to attend to.”

“How am I going to wash my clothes now?”

“Your clothes can wait till tomorrow Levi. Don’t be ridiculous—“

“It is my clothes Mike!” With eyebrows furrowed, annoyance becoming more and more blatant, he then decided to end the call with a harsh tap on his screen.

Now, Mike’s out of the option.

Wrong.

That was his only option.

Groaning in defeat, the raven-haired man went to grab his plain hoodie, a black mask, and some dark-rimmed glasses. Definitely looking suspicious but enough to cover his identity.

Thus, without further ado, he went on his tracks, already having a place in mind to go to.

The nearest convenience store of course.

\--

Shit.

The nearest convenience store is shit.

Well, right on the counter was a very familiar figure leaning on it, head duck down and eyes staring straight into the book on hand.

Thoughts were getting hay-wired as Levi stopped on his tracks right in front of the shop, eyes blown wide, clearly surprised to see the familiar woman inside.

Why is she here? No, what is she exactly doing here?

It’s been two weeks since the last time the raven-haired man saw the brunette. The confrontation at that library was the last one since his schedule had been fully-loaded---it was hell. Not that he had any intention to go back though, he tells himself.

Looking back, this shop is the only one around his neighborhood and the next one would probably take thirty minutes to walk and the chances of being seen are higher. Pretty much risky all in all.

Cursing internally and silently hoping she wouldn’t pay him any mind, Levi stepped inside the shop. The doorbell clung as the door was pushed open and the hazel brown eyes immediately went to his grey-irises.

Levi had removed his glasses and mask earlier thinking that the woman would definitely question his appearance.

There was a rare glint on her eyes and the way the corner of her mouth rose into a stupidly wide smile and this action was enough to make Levi display a pointed look.

“Oh, isn’t this mister thirty-two years old!” The brunette exclaimed, putting her book aside, “Levi was it?”

Levi clicked his tongue at the nickname and averted his eyes from her in search of what he needed, “Where are the detergents?” He asks instead, completely ignoring what she had said.

“You can find it in the aisle at the back.” The way her voice sounded was pretty much cheerful and it was enough to further irritate the raven-haired man. “Hey, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

The place was quite small and Levi had his body bent down to pick up some detergents. He definitely doesn’t have any intention of answering the bespectacled woman, he was never good at talking after all. Just when he was in the middle of his thoughts, a familiar rack caught his attention.

In front of him is a shelf filled with magazines and the one with his face in the front cover really had to be the one to get awfully displayed.

The bespectacled woman just really had to leave her post and approach him, the incoming footsteps were evident and Levi’s heart was thumping hard like it was trying to escape from his ribcage.

Pulling on the detergents he needed, the raven-haired man turned his back on the magazine, blocking it from the incoming brunette’s view.

She was pondering, eyeing the detergents on the aisle as she nonchalantly says, “How long was it? Did two weeks already pass? Man, it’s been a while.”

He was still as a rock from where he was standing as he finally formed sentences to get back on the one-sided conversation, “What are you doing here? I thought you had that library running?”

“I had to fill in for a friend!” The brunette answered gleefully, “Had a hot dinner date with his boyfriend, I guess.”

He raised an eyebrow at this but did not speak anything in return. More specifically, he does not have anything say in return. Well shit, Levi was never good with words.

“Hey, Levi…” Hange suddenly began and Levi could only stare back at her, “You look constipated. Do you need some meds?”

At the mention of medicine, he then realized that the medicines were placed at the counter---definitely a good distraction.

“Yeah… can you get me some?”

The brunette still had a doubtful look on her face, “Sure.” Turning her back to him and went directly to the counter.

In a swift move, Levi immediately turned to grab the magazine and thrust it unto the bottom shelf. With this, his face wouldn’t be in plain view.

However, just as he looked at his work in satisfaction, he noticed the teabags on another shelf with his fucking face on it.

Levi swore he’s going to pass out any minute now.

“Levi, I got the meds here. You still need something?” The tone of her voice snapped him out of his trance.

Naturally, the raven-haired man composed himself and walked towards the counter, placing all the things he grabbed. “Oi, four-eyes, is this your first time here?”

Hange’s ears perked at the question, “Why would you ask me that?”

“Plainly curious.”

“Well, you can’t stop curiosity.” She grinned at him and Levi averted his eyes from this, her eyes were a little bit intimidating from his liking, “It’s just for tonight.”

He answered with a hum and proceeded to pay his purchase. That’s great then. He wouldn’t have to worry about her handling those shitty magazines of his.

After paying, the brunette gave him a smug smile and bid her goodbye. Levi mumbled a grouchy farewell but the brunette still managed to hear this. He walked out from the shop impatiently, walking towards the direction of his apartment without ever looking back.

That was nerve-wracking as hell. The next time he’ll see her, his identity is probably already busted.

But for some odd reason, he strangely felt satisfied.

\--

Staring straight to the blinding lights of the camera, in between the four plain white walls was Levi doing his best to display the best pose he could muster up.

The staff was watching him, mouth agape in awe and the cameraman raised a thumb up, exclaiming, “Magnificent!”

The raven-haired sighed as the lights went off, cracking his neck to the other side to at least ease the stiffened muscle.

The director looked happy with the outcome, nodding to Levi in satisfaction, “You did great once again today, Levi.”

“Thanks.”

Mike approached the shorter man, handing him a bottle of water, “Great job, man. The female staff was literally gawking shamelessly.”

Levi ignored the remark from the blonde and gulped on the bottle. Well, he was rather thirsty, the shoot took a wholeass two hours in repeated preparation and awkward poses. Beyond the set, he caught an eye of the young teenager Eren Yaeger looking at him in pure amazement, smiling a little bit to himself.

“And look at that… that kid is fawning over you too.” Mike snickered. “And your cousin’s gonna loathe you harder.”

There was an aura emitting out from somewhere and the raven-haired man definitely felt the tension his cousin Mikasa was giving him.

As Mike expected, Eren went to approach Levi with a sulky Mikasa trailing after him.

“You’re as professional as ever, Levi-senpai!” The emerald-eyed boy says in a loud voice.

Levi winced at this and nonchalantly answers, “Of course.”

Before Eren could say anything further, the director suddenly called out after the two of them, telling them to get ready. Eren and Mikasa are partners, particularly a loveteam. They were just newbies, rising stars from a hit drama that just aired a few months ago.

“Eren, let’s go.” Mikasa grabbed his wrist, her voice low and soft.

Eren looked disappointed as ever but managed to follow after Mikasa, still determined. With the two brats out of the way, Levi and Mike proceeded to exit out of the room.

“That kid’s going to be more popular someday than you, Levi.”

The raven-haired man scoffed at this, “That’s just how this industry works. All this shit’s just temporary.”

“Yeah… and you’re already thirty-two. Never had a girlfriend ever.”

The raven-haired man scowled at this. “None of your business.”

“Oh, maybe you’re gay?”

“Fuck off.”

Mike paused, a funny speculation in his head, “But you definitely shouldn’t have the hots for me… I just don’t swing that way—“

“You’re fucking disgusting.” Levi cuts him off, displeased at the idea. More particularly, grossed out.

“Maybe Erwin, then?” Mike adds, laughing to himself.

“Just shut your shitty mouth.”

Levi pushed the door through Erwin’s office and Mike stifled his laugher, staring at the scene before them.

Erwin was talking gently with a woman alone in his office. This is quite a rare scene.

The blue orbs from Erwin’s eyes darted towards the two figures, “Oh, Mike, Levi. You’re finally here.”

Levi proceeded to walk towards the mini sofa, letting all the exhaustion went away meanwhile Mike closed the door gently, smiling smugly at Erwin. It was only when Mike’s realized that the woman was Marie as the woman gave her a soft smile.

Well, Marie was Erwin’s one and only love but was married off to someone else before he could even make a move on her. Fortunately, the couple was definitely not happy with each other and decided to separate, filing for a divorce.

Right now, Marie is single and definitely available for Erwin.

On the desk, Levi reached for his bag, taking out a certain book. It was the book that bespectacled woman has given him and he has been reading it during his break.

It’s been a week now since the last time he saw her.

Well, he doesn’t want to see her again anyway, he says to himself.

“Anyway, Levi, your merchandise sales are getting higher than we expected,” Erwin says, a pleased look on his face. “Your influence in the fashion industry is becoming deeper and bigger. The agency is definitely thankful for all of these.”

Levi ignored his compliment and continued to read the book. The shorter man was not very good at getting compliments after all and everyone within the room was aware of this behavior.

“Oh, and by the way…” Erwin trailed off. “You need to be more aware of your popularity now, Levi. Be cautious and take care of yourself. You’re a very valuable asset.”

This made Mike laugh, “Are you kidding, Erwin? You do know Levi is twice dangerous than me though.”

“I’m just saying,” Erwin answered back, chuckling a little.

After a while, the trio (namely, Erwin, Mike, and Marie) were then involved in a light conversation, laughing every now and then. Levi which was not part of the conversation and who was intently reading a book was definitely not liking the noise. 

Thinking of it as somewhat bothersome but despite this, the lively atmosphere felt strangely comfortable for him either way.

Thus, he stood up and was supposed to brew some tea to sip on however just when he did this, the book fell from the table, unnoticed by him.

Mike, still laughing at a joke that Erwin made, bent down to pick it up and a piece of paper slipped through it, falling down to the carpet. This caught the blonde’s attention and Levi was far too busy and away to see the situation.

Picking up the paper, there were digits written on it. Specifically, a phone number.

This brought a smirk on Mike’s lips, holding the paper up in the air, turning to Erwin with a mischievous glint on his eyes, “Look! There’s a phone number slipped in Levi’s book, Erwin.”

Upon hearing this, Levi stopped what he was currently doing and snapped his head as fast as lightning towards Mike.

Erwin and Marie both laughed at this.

Mike, on the other hand, snickered, teasing the poor raven-haired man, “Didn’t know you already had one coming after you, huh.”

“Don’t be stupid.” Levi shot him a sharp look, certainly mad. “Give that to me.”

“Oh? Don’t tell me you haven’t seen this?”

“That’s right. Give that back to me.” His voice boomed.

Mike complied rather easily, aware that Levi’s definitely not kidding at the moment and gave it back to the annoyed shorter man. Snatching it, Levi’s grey irises darted towards the piece of paper still scowling.

He stared at the digits intently and read the small written note below it.

“Would want to see you again! Here’s my number.” Mike mouthed the written words.

He was about to tease the hell out of Levi but before he could do so, he was taken aback by the bewildered look on Levi’s face and the small faint blush across his cheek.

What the hell? Mike internally snickered. “Levi, you fine?”

“Shut up.” Levi went away, grabbing the book and paper with him.

Mike continued to stare after him, turning to Erwin who also had a smug look on his face.

Now then, who’s this mystery woman?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would love to know your thoughts! Am I doing this right? HAHAHA I feel like Mike was too ooc. I mean, he was supposed to be a quiet smug boi.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry i posted some dramatic shit. i srsly thought i was a lost cause. thank you for those who cheered me up, you guys pushed me to continue thiiis <3
> 
> It took me quite a long time retyping everything tho. Please enjoy.

Inside his dimly lit room, Levi stood before a mirror, fixing the raven bangs of his hair. He ran a hand through it, letting it hang loosely on his forehead.

It was Saturday, an off day that he should've spent in the covers of his mattress. However, the constant ringing of his phone and the continuous beeping of an incoming message was enough to disrupt the peace he wanted to savor for himself.

The screen of his phone lit up and his grey irises glanced over it as it flashed a message.

Mike: I'm outside. Hurry up and come out while there's still no one around.

Sighing, he grabbed his phone in haste and puts the hoodie of his jacket over his head. After making sure that all the lights are turned off, wires plug off and the stove off, he threw one last glance over his own reflection on the mirror before exiting.

Sure enough, plain black skinny jeans and some baggy hoodie was enough to wear for the party his friend Mike has been shitting on for almost a week now. It's apparently his girlfriend's birthday party and he wanted to at least bring one of his friends.

For that matter, Erwin was always busy and obviously does not have time to goof around.

Behind the building, the rear lights of Mike's car lit up as if acknowledging that he had seen Levi. Without further ado, the raven-haired walked towards it, taking in the setting sun behind where the car is.

"You should've hurried up," It was the first thing that went out from Mike’s mouth just right as Levi climbed up the car, sitting on the front seat.

Slamming the door close, he turned to the taller man, "I still have to check every corner of my—"

"Yeah, sure."

The engine immediately roared to life and the car went into a zoom.

The comfortable silence within the car was evident. Levi roamed his eyes throughout the whole car until he caught an eye of a bouquet of roses and a small paper bag placed on the backseat through the rear-view mirror.

He huffed in amusement, "You're that serious, huh."

"That's right," Mike answered, eyes still on the road. "That's why I need to bring you with me to at least show her a part of my life. She has been complaining how she knew so little of me so I thought I just had to do this... sorry, man."

It was indeed a first for the blond-haired man to say such things. The way he's acting right now, all serious and determined, just speaks how deep he has fallen to whoever he's currently seeing at the moment.

Good for him, Levi thinks. This might've been the reason why Mike has been always so preoccupied for the past month.

"Anyway, how about you? Finally called that number?"

The way the usual neutral look on Levi's face distorted into surprise and embarrassment was so obvious that Mike couldn't help but sneer at it. Seeing Levi acting like a stupid teenager, which was in contrast with the maturity and brash personality he usually has, makes the taller man want to tease the hell out of him.

Shooting a pointed look, he answered in a deep tone. "Fuck off and mind your own fucking business."

"Oh, come on." Mike mused. "You're missing an opportunity here."

"The only opportunity I missed is a good night's rest."

The taller man was about to laugh however the car engine's gurgled as it slows down, the sound steadily going off. Surprised, Mike immediately turned the steering wheel, making the car stop by the sideway and not exactly in the middle of the road.

Now, they were stranded in a place where vehicles rarely pass by.

Well, Mike had to drive through a route where there are lesser people around so that the risk of anyone seeing Levi would be much fewer.

Levi lets out a sigh, getting the gist of the whole situation, "Now what? Should I call Erwin for help?"

"Let me check it first."

Mike steps out of the car and went to the front, opening up the car's front bumper to see what the problem is. It was getting hotter inside especially with the lack of air-conditioner hence why the raven-haired man also stepped out.

However, much to his dismay, he then noticed the familiar sidewalk and the buildings all around them. Slowly, it dawned to him that he has been to this place but still couldn't figure out when or how.

"Levi, can you turn your phone's flashlight? I couldn't see anything here."

Without a word, he obediently did Mike's plea and stood beside him to hold the light in place. After a few attempts in starting the engine, it eventually came into a halt when Mike finally announced the whole thing as a lost cause.

Turning to the shorter man, Mike says, "Can you call Erwin? I still need to contact Nanaba first."

"Sure." His fingers swiped through the screen of his phone, searching for Erwin's number.

The whole thing took quite a while with a calm Levi asking Erwin for help and Mike apologizing repeatedly to his girlfriend.

Erwin's deep chuckle vibrated through the other line upon hearing the dilemma they're currently in, "The mechanics would probably arrive in an hour or so. They live quite far away and they're currently eating dinner."

"That's fine. Just text me when they're on the way."

With a heavy sigh, Levi cuts the call off and turned to Mike who looked depressed more and more as time passed. The shorter man is fully aware that Mike was beyond disappointed with what has happened.

They've been friends for years, ever since the start of Levi's career. Obviously, it bothers him that his friend was acting this way despite how he looked.

"You can just grab a cab and leave the car here with me, you know?" Levi finally offered after a while.

It is certainly not a good idea. "You're a public figure. It's dangerous when someone sees you here. Plus, you'd have to talk to those mechanics."

"It's fine. I can just cover myself with the hoodie."

"You do know that's not enough." The firmness was evident in the way Mike replied with a stern look on his face.

Despite how badly he wanted to go to Nanaba, he still couldn't afford to leave Levi alone. Not just because it's part of his job but he's just genuinely concerned as a friend.

Scowling, Levi crossed his arms once again, "I'm not a kid, Mike. You know I can punch better than you right?"

"That's the point. I couldn't afford for you to get a scandal."

"Tch. Quit being shitty and get your ass to your fucking girlfriend." This time, Levi's getting agitated and annoyed. Mike is being hard-headed and overly-concerned. He's not a kid for fuck's sake. "And if anything were to happen, I can just call you."

Mike stared at him, processing everything. Sure, he appreciates the sentiment and it definitely wasn't a bad suggestion. However, the fact that he just dragged Levi out of his shell only to leave the problem at hand by himself is heavily contradicting with his conscience.

But the conversation he had shared with Nanaba behind close doors, telling him to arrive on time is eating his conscience too.

Sighing, there was finally an answer to the prolonged question. "Fine… Just contact me immediately when the mechanics arrive. Let me talk to them over the phone."

Levi just shrugged his shoulders and gestured for him to go away, "Hurry up now."

In a rush, Mike grabbed his things and dashed towards the street across find some cab. Finally out of sight, the ravenette lets out a sigh once again and turned his attention back to the car.

Well, damn. He did promise to wait even though he’s not the type to do such hassle shit. Pulling out his phone, Levi went to lean on the wall of the building in front of him. He began swiping on his screen, surfing through the internet, looking for things that might pique his interest.

Not until there was suddenly a figure that stood before him. Calling out, the person looked quite baffled upon the sight of him.

"Levi?" A very familiar tone caught him off-guard.

Turning his head in a snap, he sees the familiar brunette ponytail and shitty glasses that a certain woman wore.

It is none other than Hange who’s looking at him, pondering. His eyes widened upon seeing her too, blatantly surprised. Piece by piece, it was only when everything dawned on him---the familiar building and streets.

Levi glanced back to the building which he just had his back unto to confirm his speculation. It was indeed Hange's library.

The tapping of her heels was evident, approaching him closer and bending a little bit to check under the hem of his hoodie if it is truly him. The shorter man could do nothing but stare at the bunch of books she hugged in her arms.

"Levi!” There was a rare glint in the brunette’s eyes, exclaiming. “What are you doing here? Do you need something?"

Now, the poor ravenette’s mind is blank.

Not a single thing would come to mind. Hoping to at least say something as a reaction to the bespectacled woman.

In all honesty, he was still caught up with what she was wearing. A tight pencil skirt which was enough to see her curves and a white turtle-neck highlighting how slim and tall she really is.

The messy brunette was looking... decent.

He immediately averted his eyes away from her, "The car's broken."

The way Hange's eyes turned into an O made the raven-haired man rethink his decision. It wasn't a good idea to let Mike off the hook. Why of all time does she have to be fucking here?

"Broken? Is it the engine?" She inquired, walking towards the car.

Her actions and the pure baffled look on her face just says how much she must've trusted the shorty man’s words despite how awfully suspicious it is.

Huffing a little bit, he then nonchalantly says. "Yeah… It suddenly went off."

She tilted her head to the other side in question, "Did you already call for mechanics?"

"I did."

"That's great. Will they take long?"

He nodded at this, raising his arm to check on the watch on his wrist. "Probably an hour."

A small genuine smile appeared on the Hange’s lips. "Why don't you come inside? It's cold out here."

"Don't mind me. I'm wearing a hoodie."

Hange scratched the back of her head, "Well... it wouldn't hurt to just come inside and have some small chat?"

He raised an eyebrow at this and finally looked at her. The determined look on her face and the small subtle pout was an attempt to convince him.

There’s nothing to lose, anyway. Sighing, he pushed his phone back to the pocket of his jeans, "Fine. Just a bit then."

A bubbly laugh vibrated from her, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Quit being too modest. You act as if we never met each other, Levi."

"Tch."

But before he could step inside, a lanky tall man with short brown hair was half-running towards their direction, wearing a fine suite and holding two suitcases in each of his hands.

The man looked up and stopped on his tracks when he finally approached them, completely out of breath. "H-hange-san..."

Hange turned to the man, looking as if she had forgotten about him. "Moblit! Is there anything wrong?"

"You forgot to bring this with you," The man immediately handed the suitcases to her. "And please don't forget about Nanaba's party… You’re almost late."

In a split second, Levi saw the horrified expression reflecting on Hange’s hazel brown eyes. This reaction was enough to confirm the suspicion Moblit had.

"I knew it. You forgot about it." He sighed, expecting it.

"Oh no! What time is it?" Seeing the time on the watch on her wrist made her more frantic. "I'm already thirty minutes late! I need to call Mike---"

Hange stopped on her blabbering as soon as she saw Mike standing meters away behind Levi.

Her eyes widened in surprise and waved a hand to him, shouting, "Mike!"

Confused, the raven-haired man turned behind him. He was surprised to see Mike, walking towards them, still carrying his bouquet and presents.

"Hange…" The blond called out, breathy.

The brunette looked at him in question, “Glad you’re still here!” A small thought came into mind upon remembering a memory. “You said you were bringing someone with you?”

"I'm sorry. I kind of forgot that we were still supposed to meet." Mike apologized, turning to Levi, "Yeah... I brought Levi with me."

Hange turned to Levi in surprise, hazel brown eyes widening and the next words that came out from her mouth were enough to make his world crumble.

“W-what? Don’t tell me---” The brunette paused, obviously puzzled. “You are Mike’s famous friend?!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as promised.

"You are Mike’s famous friend?!

The words echoed inside Levi’s mind. A hollow feeling inside as his mind went blank. Thinking of words to say, he bit on his lower lip in frustration.

The brunette then continued to stare with a somewhat accusing look on her face.

Mike definitely noticed the instilled nervousness the ravenette felt as he looked frozen as shit just standing there. It is a given fact that Levi certainly wanted to keep his identity unknown.

However, seeing the uncomfortable look on his face, it is a given fact that there is entirely a different reason aside from the risk of just someone knowing him.

Answers were about to come out from his mouth when there was suddenly a foot that stomped on him intentionally. The action appears to be unnoticed by the brunette still had a questioning look on her face.

"That person didn't manage to come so Mike invited me out instead."

Surprisingly, the way Levi said it was filled with finality and it was rather in a laid-back manner.

Not a single trail of lies could be detected.

This confused the blonde man but still decided to come up with what Levi has answered, "Y-yeah.” Hange’s eyes darted towards him, serious. “He was busy as shit after all. You know right? The celebrity life… so I asked my other friend instead."

Thankfully, the brunette seemed to accept the explanation rather easily as she nodded in understanding, "So, speaking of, this must be your car?” It was her who changed the topic effortlessly, “Did it break down?"

"Yes, unfortunately." Mike replied.

Pondering, she glanced at the man behind her and a conclusion came into mind. "Then no worries! Moblit is here to fix your car!"

"What?" It was only when Levi once again notices the presence of Moblit who looked confused at the situation, expressing a strong sense of disapproval as he shook his head. "I don't have the appropriate supplies--"

"No, it's fine Hange. We've called for mechanics after all."

"Oh right. Levi did say that.”

At Hange’s answer, Mike glanced at Levi. The shorter man seemed to notice the action, stirring slightly from where he is standing.

Hange then adds, “So are we still going to wait for them to come? It would take an hour."

The silence from both men was enough answer.

"Well then... we can have Moblit watch over the car until the mechanics arrive." The suggestion was poorly received by the brown-haired man as he looked at the brunette in disbelief, obviously puzzled.

Stammering, he tried to clarify. “H-hange-san?”

However, the brunette looked as if it was the final decision, making it harder for Moblit. In the end, the poor man decided to do what his superior had wanted.

“Shall we?” Hange mused at both men.

It was getting late, Levi noted. They were walking towards Hange’s car. They trailed after the brunette that is currently humming a melody. The taller man was by Levi’s side, looking around his surroundings to check for anyone.

“Didn’t know you guys are friends. The world is such a small place.” The brunette blabbers, turning her head back to them.

Mike answered with a shrugged, “I was honestly surprised too that you and Levi are actually friends.”

“Oh! It was sorta funny,” She chuckled, stopping on her tracks when they finally reached her car, “Isn’t it, Levi?”

The raven-haired deadpanned at her.

Silently, Mike proceeds to enter the backseat after Hange had climbed up on the driver seat.

Before Levi could follow Mike, the brunette stopped him on his tracks. “Shorty, you should sit on the front seat. Wouldn’t want to leave it empty.”

He was a little bit taken back at first.

Well, whatever.

Without a word, Levi complied rather obediently as he circled around the car to get to the other side. He climbed up on the front seat, locking eyes with the bespectacled woman who looked rather pleased.

Hange then began putting her seatbelts on. “Put on your seatbelts, please. I can’t assure you guys safety.”

Levi gave her a questioning look but still does what she had said anyway. The warning was soon proven true when the car suddenly went into a fast dash at full speed.

Narrowed eyes and gripping on the strap of his seatbelt, Levi swore he almost got his soul ripped out from his body. As the traffic lights turned into bright red, the car suddenly went into a sudden halt, taking Levi by surprise once again.

Irritated, he turned to the brunette in disbelief, “Are you trying to get us killed, four eyes?”

“Not really. You have your seatbelts on.” She answered nonchalantly.

The raven-haired man continued to look at her with eyes filled with exasperation. He simply couldn’t believe this woman. She sent him a small smile in return, looking apologetic.

“Tch.” He averted his eyes away from her, crossing his arms in irritation. “Shitty woman.”

“I could hear you, you know?” Hange snickered at this, preparing herself to push on the gas once again as the seconds on the traffic light went lesser, “Grumpy short-ass.”

Before Levi could shoot her a glare back, the brunette just had to step on the gas. The car once again accelerated at full speed.

Levi’s irritation was soon replaced with the fear of dying from a stupid car crash.

For goodness sake, after that terrifying ride, they managed to arrive in the said destination within ten minutes.

Well, who wouldn’t? Especially at how careless and speedy that shit glasses drove.

As Hange parked the car, Levi immediately removed his seatbelts and opened the front door impatiently. Completely eager to get the hell out of the car.

Mike saw this rude behavior. “Sorry about him… He’s sort of short-tempered.”

Shaking her head, the brunette opens the car, “I know.”

Honestly, Mike was quite confused about how on earth those two knew each other knowing that Levi rarely comes out from his place nor is Hange.

Ironically, Mike had known Hange for years and she’s currently working as an in-home researcher in a certain company.

It is quite confusing to process all this especially now that he watched them walked side by side. Levi was being rude as usual which was unlikely because he’s a celebrity and had a reputation to keep.

Anyway, he could unravel that mystery later.

Levi, on the other hand, immediately held on the hood of his jacket to further cover his features. The mansion that they’re approaching looked huge as hell and he could already hear the loud bass of music outside.

The brunette rang the doorbell as soon as they arrived. Not a minute even passed when a blonde-haired woman opened the door, gracing them with a happy smile.

“Hange! You guys are finally here!” She exclaimed.

Hange hugged her friend, “Sorry we were kinda late.”

“Aww, the party’s already startin’!”

“Nana…” Mike called out, trying to get her attention.

The woman looked at him in surprise and went to envelop him in a hug. She placed a small kiss on his cheek and then looked at him straight in the eye, “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course…” Mike whispered back.

Being between the two flirty lovers was making Levi stare at them. He looked completely unamused and utterly awkward as hell too just from standing there in between.

A hand suddenly grabbed his wrist and he looked up only to meet with Hange’s gleeful expression, placing an index finger on her lips as a gesture to stay quiet.

The ravenette decided to let himself get dragged by the brunette as they stepped inside the house. Before him, there were neon lights all around and the people were already dancing.

Blasting through the speakers is the music, not letting itself get drowned by the constant yelling and screams.

It was dim and only the blinding neon lights were lighting the whole place. In the middle of the whole room was a dude playing on a DJ.

Obviously, it was Levi’s first time to be in a place such as this.

The bespectacled woman brought him to a vacant sofa. They sat there for a while, urging Levi to get comfortable with the place as she pulled out her phone. With Hange’s attention focused elsewhere, Levi began to scrutinize the whole place.

Not a few minutes later, the brunette stood up. “I should get something to drink.” The angle from where she stood from certainly made Levi look up to her as a necessity. “Do you want anything to drink?”

“I don’t really drink.” He replied grouchily.

“Oh come on! Don’t be such a party-pooper!” The pouting look on her face was new. “I’m gonna go get some alcohol. You better drink some, shorty.”

“Tch.” He clicked his tongue, crossing his arms at her. “Why did you even ask in the first place?”

This brought a bubbly laugh from the brunette as she excused herself. Of course, not before sending him a wink and going away.

What’s with her? Levi mentally thinks, staring into her disappearing figure.

Whenever he meets that woman, he’d think of her as some weird-ass eccentric person. It almost feels like she’s having fun all the time.

He decided to remove every thought of her out of his mind. Thinking about that shit glasses is indeed ruining his mood.

After a while, Nanaba and Mike arrived. They went to the U-shaped sofa where Levi sat on. As expected, Nanaba went to approach him first, convincing him to wear off his hoodie.

Her eyes widened as she took in his appearance, “Oh my! It’s really you!”

The squealing was annoying. Levi has heard the same sound all over again every time he would be meeting someone.

“You still look really handsome in person.” Smiling happily, she extended a hand to him. “I’ve been a fan of yours for a long time. I’m Mike’s girlfriend, Nanaba.”

He stared at her hand for a brief moment, glancing towards Mike. The taller man seemed to be fine with it thus he accepted the hand reluctantly.

“Thank you for taking care of Mike.” The woman added after shaking his hand.

He shrugged his shoulder as an answer, forcing out a small smile, “Thank you for taking care of him too…I guess.”

Time passed rather quickly.

The next thing Levi knew was that his fucking friend is making out with his woman on the sofa across him. He could only avert his eyes at the scene, looking for things that may at least get his attention.

He repeatedly checks his watch too. Damn it. Where did that four eyes go to?

How long does it take to get a drink?

Indeed. He was desperate for Hange to come back just to at least ease the awkwardness he’s experiencing.

Soon enough, the brunette emerged out from a certain room. She was laughing with a man beside her. They looked awfully cozy with each other and Levi’s brows could only furrow at the scene before him.

Oh, great. Seems like his questions just got an answer.

He saw the way she waved at the man when they parted ways. She was holding two glasses on each of her hands, making her way towards the sofa where the raven-haired man currently is.

Their eyes met in a moment. He continued to stare back at her with the usual grumpy look on his face.

“Sorry, it took me long. Got caught up in a conversation.”

He grabbed the glass of alcohol from her hand right away. “Seriously.”

Levi took a sip, the bitterness on his tongue oddly pleasant. When he looked up, he saw how Hange’s hazel brown eyes were widened, cheeks painted red.

Scowling, he proceeds to ask her. “What are you looking at?”

Awkwardly, she sat beside him, sipping on her own glass too. “I already drank on that glass. You suddenly snatched it from me.”

This earned a blush across Levi’s face too. Fortunately, he had his hoodie back so the bespectacled woman wasn’t able to see it.

“Whatever.” He sipped once again on his glass.

“So, Levi…” Hange drawls out, turning her whole body to him, sitting sideways. “How’s work?”

The question caught him off-guard as he literally froze from his spot.

He looked away from her prying eyes. “Why do you ask?”

She pouted at this. “Is it wrong? I just wanted to know more about you.”

He hummed as an answer, shaking the half-filled glass of his, staring at the way the liquid swayed. “Hectic as usual.” There was an unusual lump on his throat, refraining him from speaking much. “How about you?”

Levi swore her eyes lit up at the question.

Grinning and putting her glass down, the brunette had a maniac grin on her face. “Good question!”

“Seriously?”

“I’ve been researching on a certain specimen…” She nods her head with her hands all over the place.

Her oozing enthusiasm as she spoke was enough to keep Levi’s attention to her. It was a first for Levi to meet someone who was filled with as much excitement as her when talking about another thing that definitely doesn’t concern him.

Every time someone talked in that same manner is only when they’re complimenting him and telling him about every good shit they thought of him.

This shit glasses doesn’t even know him yet she’s speaking as if they’ve been friends for ages.

“So you owned that bigass library while also working as a researcher at the same time?”

The brunette was now leaning on the sofa, already looking tipsy. “That’s right… life’s kinda hard…”

Levi lets out a mocking chuckle at this, “It sure is.”

There was a moment of silence between them. They’ve never noticed that Mike and Nanaba weren’t on the sofa anymore. Only god knows where.

“Hey, let’s go there…” The soft whisper on his ear startled Levi as he flinched a little bit.

Turning to her, the bespectacled woman’s eyes weren’t on him.

Staring at another direction, the brunette continued. “I think there wouldn’t be a lot of people there.”

Despite him not bringing up the subject, but the filthy aroma, loud-ass cheers and swaying mass of bodies have been bothering Levi ever since he stepped foot on this place.

Levi certainly despised the place. He hated crowds after all—specifically, any form of mess.

Hange is indeed pretty sharp to notice it behind the blank façade on his face.

He replied with a nod at her and the brunette stood up, pulling him to another place.

Surprisingly, he was dragged into the spacious kitchen.

There was no one around.

“You looked uncomfortable as hell there.”

He looked at the person beside him who looked apologetic.

Shooting a glare, he snatched his wrist from her grasp. “Whatever.”

The brunette brushed it off, laughing. “Go sit by the counter. I really need to drink some water.”

He complied rather obediently and sat by the counter. Watching the bespectacled woman walk towards the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of water.

Without any second thoughts, the brunette gulped the water on the spot. Levi gave her a dirty look, definitely not pleased at whatever she’s doing.

The way her face contorted into bitterness made the raven-haired man stare at her in further interest.

“Fuck, I’m almost drunk and I just had to drink this?” The brunette baffled, staring at the bottle. “Shit! This isn’t water.”

This earned a chuckle from Levi who was only watching her the whole time.

Hange frowned at him, “It’s not funny, shorty!”

“Your eyes are really that shitty, huh?” He tilted his head to the other side, trying to tease her.

“Shut up.” Placing the bottle back on the refrigerator, she slammed the door close.

In disbelief, Levi called her out. “Wait---shouldn’t you fucking take that bottle out? You just drank from it. Are you possibly nuts?”

The brunette seemed like she wasn’t even listening to him and continued to lean on the refrigerator, holding her aching forehead. Levi approached her in concern about what’s happening to her.

Clicking his tongue, he grabbed her wrist. “You still fine?”

“Do I look like I’m fine?” Hange flashed a coy smile at him.

“Tch.” He glared at her. “I’m just making sure.”

Oddly, the bespectacled woman was soon huffing and catching her breath. Her face turned redder and redder as time passed. This whole shit was making Levi worry shitless too.

In a sudden, Hange stumbled, colliding into Levi in the process who was rather alert as he caught her immediately.

She was now hugging him and he could only hold her back. “H-hey, what’s happening to you?”

It was fucked up.

He could feel Hange’s breathing right on his ear. He tried to push her, trying to detach herself away from him.

“I feel hot…” Hange mumbled, trying to hold on to his shoulder. “What did I just fucking drink?”

Levi was getting irritated, confused and worried. “You… do you happen to have zero tolerance on alcohol?”

“Well shit, I am…”

“You stupid woman.” He tried to make her lean on the counter, trying to release her hold on him. “I’m going to get you something to—”

Before he could successfully do so, the brunette brought both of her arms on his shoulder.

“Levi…” The way she sounded as he called for his name was causing an internal turmoil inside Levi. Staring straight into his eyes, the brunette continued with a smirk. “Why don’t we date each other?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am seriously trying to shorten my chapters but idk i always write it too long!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i actually managed to update two chapters today! one here and another last one in my other fic TT i feel so proud that i managed to accomplish a lotta things today HAHAHA

Early in the morning, the clock was ticking loudly with the shorter hand pointing at seven. The kitchen was dimly lit, the bathroom door left open, and the sliding doors which connect to the balcony are also wide open.

Levi sat on his kitchen counter, a cup of tea in hand.

He was in a daze, bed-hair sticking out from his head and staring into the white shirt he hanged on the balcony, swaying back and forth caused by the morning breeze.

Fortunately, the alcohol last night didn't make his head throb. It wasn't the alcohol that was causing him so much turmoil at the moment.

It's that shitty four-eyed woman.

The disgusting liquid that spilled over his shirt, the heavyweight leaning on his fucking chest and the brunette strands of hair sticking on the mortifying liquid that went dripping on his shirt.

That's right. Hange just had to fucking throw up on him.

Hell, Levi was still in the middle of processing the shitty words that came out from her drunkard's lips and she just had to suddenly do that?

Way to ruin his mood.

"Tch." He frowned upon remembering the memory. "I should seriously stop thinking about that."

The next thing Levi knew by that time was that he was in a severe state of shock. His whole body was still and his mind blank. Nanaba and Mike suddenly opened the door to the kitchen, thankfully, and they just stared at each other for a good few minutes before Nanaba finally screeched and took her friend away from him.

Nanaba apologized repeatedly meanwhile Mike kept on telling and explaining to her that all's good.

But of course, Levi is definitely not good with all that.

"That fucking woman." Looking at his empty cup, he stood up from his seat and went to wash the used cup on the sink. "She has the gall to say shit like that when she's a mess?"

Oddly, there was a certain question that was stuck at the back of the raven-haired's man. It is tormenting him. He's torn between believing that one shall not trust the word of a drunkard or being drunk makes one honest.

Whichever it is, he is still fucking annoyed and displeased at the fact that she threw up on him.

The city was the same as usual. Crowdy streets and speedy vehicles running around. In the middle of the road, Levi sat on the front seat of a car. This time, it wasn't Mike who's with him since that stupid oaf just had to take a sudden break out of nowhere.

"Umm, Levi," The man beside him spoke, a little bit nervous as his hand maneuvered the stirring wheel. "Your next shoot will start in an hour. Petra and her glam team still need to give you a proper makeover."

"So that photoshoot was pushed through after all, huh."

"Yes, apparently."

He clicked his tongue at this, his mood getting worse any minute. When he arrived at the studio, he was approached by one of Mike's assistant, Erd and Gunther. They immediately gave him the schedule for the day and he could only wince at how packed it was.

On the streets away from the studio, he saw a number of fangirls calling out for him and damn, Levi needs to act all sweet as he waved a hand at them, forcing a smile. They squealed in delight and he immediately steps in the studio to get away from the spotlight.

Walking beside him was Gunther, chuckling at what they've encountered. "They've been there for a good full hour waiting for you."

"They're wasting time." Looking towards the glass wall, he then noticed how the clouds turned grey. He definitely wouldn't want it to rain. "Go tell Erd to tell those girls that they should go home. Wouldn't want them to get sick."

Gunther didn't waste any time in relaying the message to Erd. Despite how Levi looks, he genuinely cares for his fans in his own little way.

When he arrived in the studio room, the same scenery played all over again. A director would come up to him, introduce themselves selves and proceeds with the shoot. Another set of compliments and applause from the staff would always happen right after with him bowing and sending them all a small smile.

The daily routine was tiresome and today just happened to be not such a good day for Levi.

Hence why when the day was over, the sky was turning into a dusky shade of orange, the raven-haired wanted nothing else but to lay down on his bed and get some good night rest.

However, Gunther arrives a moment later, telling him that there was a sudden meeting with Erwin.

Heavy footsteps echoed throughout the hallway. There were a number of employees he passed through, giving him smiles and waving their hands at him. Levi could only reply with a nod, face void of any smiles. The corner of his lips is getting stiff and achy from smiling too much for the day.

Arriving at the meeting room, all the eyes lingered on him. There were a couple of different people in the vicinity and fellow models circling around the table. He didn't say a single word aside from nodding at Erwin as a greeting gesture of his.

The meeting went rather smoothly. Levi just listened to the discussion, as usual, answering questions thrown at him every now and then.

Erwin definitely noticed the way Levi was acting for the day thus when the meeting ended and slowly, the people stepped out from the room one by one with Levi left there, sitting on the chair.

He was surprised when Erwin placed a cup on his table. He could only look up at the taller man who gave him an apologetic smile. "Must've been a rough day for you, huh."

"Sure is." Levi then grabs the cup, staring at the shade of the tea. "And this wasn't brewed properly."

This earned a laugh from Erwin. "Why not just take a sip and be grateful for my gesture of kindness?"

"Kindness my ass." Despite what he says, Levi still took a sip on it, the warmth gracing his mouth.

"Well then, you're acting all grouchy today. Petra said you were rather hot-tempered and according to Gunther, everything you did for the day looked so unnatural."

He raised an eyebrow at this. "They finally submitted their report? They work fast."

"That's not the point, Levi. I know something's bothering you."

"Where'd you hear that from? Mike?"

Smirking, Erwin went back to his table, sitting on his swivel chair, "Speaking of Mike... I heard you were actually acquaintances with his girl friend's best friend?"

Great. Levi wanted to fucking punch Mike on the gut at the moment. These two tall grown-ass men really love the gossip.

Glancing at his watch, the Levi realized that it was turning 7. It may seem early for some but it was late for him.

"I should probably get going." Levi stood up from his seat, grabbing his bag.

"Hey, Levi." Erwin calls out before he could exit out of the room. "You can get a break if only you'd ask, you know?"

This caused Levi to shoot a glare at him. It is a well-known fact that despite how Levi treats this work as stressful and shit, but he himself is indeed a very workaholic one. The raven-haired was offended at this.

Why would Erwin ask him such shit? Erwin knew better than anyone that Levi takes his work seriously and responsibly.

Grimacing, he threw a look at him. "No thanks. I'm fine."

Without further ado, he exited out of the room in a haste. Before he could walk past the hallway, the phone in his bag suddenly rang, the sound echoing throughout the place.

He grabbed it, annoyed at whoever's calling him at the moment. Upon seeing that it was Mike, he could furrow his brows further and answer it grouchily.

"What is—"

"Levi! I need to ask you for a favor!" It was a woman's voice on the other line. This made Levi check the number properly and confirmed that it was indeed Mike. "This is Nanaba and Mike's beside me. Can we ask you a favor?"

Oh, great. What now? "What is it?"

"You see... Hans... I mean, Hange." Nanaba paused desperation in her voice evident. "Hange's really really sick and she just got a really high fever. She hasn't recovered from her hungover last night and she just had to get sick now when I'm not around! Our other friend, Moblit, is currently on a business trip too and would be only home tomorrow morning. I can't think of anyone to ask but you."

Levi frowned at this. If that other friend would come home anyway, why not just wait for tomorrow? Hange wouldn't probably die that fast.

He didn't speak for a minute.

This made Nanaba more desperate as she added, "Hange just texted me earlier that she has run out of medicine. She hasn't drunk a single medicine ever since the other night and hasn't even eaten too! It is that serious!"

Levi could hear Mike's voice in the background trying to calm his girlfriend down. The only thing Levi knew is that he possibly can't say no to that right?

"Levi..." It is now Mike speaking on the other line. "Man, just this once."

Levi pondered hard. Thinking of ways to answer and an excuse to make him a lesser asshole.

"I'll send Petra to do it. I'm really sorry but I'm busy today, Mike."

\----

Curled up on the mattress and buried in a thick comforter inside the dimly lit room isn't such a good thing.

Hange's stomach was growling and aching, her breathing is labored and she felt like every inch of her body is on fire.

Hungry, there were indeed a few attempts in trying to eat.

She checked for quickly cooked food in her kitchen but found nothing. Today just happened to be the day when the brunette was supposed to go buy some groceries but it is obviously impossible given her current condition.

The brunette had checked her temperature earlier and it was already at 39 degrees. Surely, she wouldn't die from fever right?

Despite the throbbing ache in her forehead, the bespectacled woman had the time to chuckle to herself.

That is such a shitty way to die, she thought to herself as she suddenly felt the urge to throw up.

But for some reason, she obviously couldn't throw up. She hasn't eaten anything after all.

However, just before she could continue to drown herself in hopelessness once again, there was a loud banging on her front door. Frowning, the brunette could only sit up from her bed and stare at the opened door of her bedroom, giving her a view of her front door.

It continued to bang until it turned into a soft knock.

She stood up from her bed, legs wobbly and it almost felt like her legs are almost giving up as she walked towards the door, mustering up all the energy left just to get there.

Grabbing her phone in the process, she checked for new messages or calls but there was none of it.

Who on earth comes here without texting or calling her beforehand? How did they even get inside her library?

It was indeed suspicious and dangerous but Hange is definitely dying and she needs some fucking help.

Thus, the brunette opened the door, pondering that she must've been hallucinating as she stared at the surprising figure in front of her.

"Took you long, four-eyes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who reads this!
> 
> Please feel free to point up my mistakes in the comment section ^^ i'm quite fond of reading corrections haha
> 
> And oh, as you noticed it, yes, this chapter is shorter than usual. haha i'm immediately updating another one tomorrow!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as promised! ^^

“Levi?” The disbelief in the brunette’s eyes was evident as she stared at him dumbstruck. Never in her wildest dream would she expect the raven-haired to be here. “What are you doing here? I mean, how did you even get here?”

A heavy sigh escaped from the other man’s lips as he tilted his head to the other side. “Wouldn’t want you dying.” The way he mouthed those words was as if he was stating something so obvious and the brunette was stupid for asking such a thing in the first place.

Ignoring these, the brunette’s eyes trailed down on what was Levi holding. There were two transparent plastic bags evenly held in each of his hands. A small glimpse of medicines, beverages and easy to cook food caught her attention as she reached out towards it.

Her eyes once again met Levi’s, still confused about how the ravenette is even here. It still doesn’t make any sense and she was about to question him once again. However, before she could even reach out, her legs wobbled. This caused her to accidentally crash into Levi once again, holding to her aching forehead.

Obviously surprised, Levi’s reflexes were rather fast as he held both of her arms before her whole weight could even crash to him. He cursed internally, a scowl on his face as he tried to face her. Taking in her weary expression and her droopy eyes which are seconds away from fully closing.

He then noticed the sweat forming on her forehead and how hot she felt on the palm of his hand. Her eyes were glistering in unshed tears and her breathing was rigidly labored.

“Fuck, you’re so hot… What fucking happened to you?” Setting her aside and stepping inside her place, he dragged Hange by her wrist towards a nearby sofa and pushed her to sit down. The brunette leaned on the sofa, huffing and hugging herself. Levi could only fathom how pitiable she looked. “Tch. I should get you water.”

The whole place was covered in darkness and only the small lampshade by the counter was enough for Levi to see the features of her face. He turns on the switch and all the lights flickered open.

Heading towards her small kitchen, he opened the refrigerator to at least get a bottle of freshwater. He could only gawk at the lit up inside of the refrigerator in disbelief, realizing that there was nothing inside, even a pitcher of water. It was empty.

A conclusion came to mind.

“Oi, shit-glasses. Have you eaten?” There was no response from the brunette thus he turned to look at her who was watching him, slightly shaking her head. The words Nanaba said over the phone flashed in his mind. He could only frown at the answer in disbelief. “Ever since breakfast?”

She nodded at him, closing her eyes slightly in exhaustion.

What the hell? She hasn’t eaten anything for a day!

“You stupid woman! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!” His tone was unusually loud and he was beyond frustration.

Staring at her disheveled and tired appearance, he could only sigh away his frustration. Well, shit. Calling her out is pointless.

The tiles were cold on Hange’s feet, blinking her eyes when she felt a pair of hands dragged her out from the sofa. Looking up at him, the brunette had an exhausted look on her face which is in contrast with the irritated look on Levi’s face.

He always looked irritated, Hange thought.

“Can you even stand?”

She shook her head as an answer, “I don’t think so.”

“Seriously…” He muttered under his breath.

The next thing Hange knew was that she was suddenly lifted up and she couldn’t feel the cold tiles underneath her feet anymore. Her long arms wrapped instinctively around Levi’s shoulders, feeling the emitting warmth from him and feeling each bob of his Adam’s apple.

Carrying her bridal style, since it was more convenient, the raven-haired brought the woman into her room. Carefully putting her down the bed.

“Damn, you’re heavy as shit.” The mischievous look on Levi’s face didn’t go unnoticed by Hange. “Lay down properly.”

Hange was rather obedient as she straightened her posture and laid down just as what Levi wanted. Placing a huge comforter on her, Levi puts a compress on her forehead as he checks her temperature with a thermometer.

He could only impatiently wait for the device to beep, standing by her side and staring down at her. Levi couldn’t really believe such a thing happening before him. This woman whom he had always wanted to avoid seeing is now under the care of his hands, literally on the brink of her death.

Her breathing was still rigid as he watched how her chest rose up and sank down on each breath. It was a sight that Levi definitely didn’t expect to see. Well, he almost decided to send Petra on his stead but changed his mind at the last minute.

Wait.

Why did he change his mind?

The echoing beep broke Levi out from his trance. Pulling out the thermometer, he could only frown upon seeing the 39.7 degrees mark. This obviously worried Levi furthermore, despite the blank look on his face, staring down at her questioning eyes which are probably curious in her own temperature too.

“You…” Reaching out for her foggy glasses, he slips it out from her eyes and folds it neatly on her bedside table. “…don't you dare sleep yet. You need to eat and drink some medicine.”

The brunette answered with a weary nod. Exiting out of the room, Levi looked for the plastic bags he had brought. He rummaged the insides in a haste, pondering what he should cook for her.

A familiar food came into mind as he remembered the faint ghostly memories of his childhood when he was too, once sick. An image struck in his mind wherein a small feeble child getting fed by a very vivid memory of a woman who had a small smile on her face. He washed the image away and headed back towards the kitchen.

After pulling out the much-needed ingredients, the igniting fire on the stove came soon as he adjusted it properly. Levi opened each cabinet one by one, searching for utensils he could use to make the food. Pulling out the chopping board. He began slicing onions, garlic, celery and all the other shit he needed for this soup.

Luckily, Levi bought a slice of chicken.

He definitely knows what to feed the hungry brunette.

A sick person should eat chicken soup. It’s the best remedy for someone who’s sick.

As soon as Levi started making the food, he’d check on her every now and then. It was multi-tasking. He even cleaned her kitchen for her and placed all the food he bought in her once empty fridge. He even had the time to clear all the scattered papers in her living room.

Time flew rather fast for Levi, realizing that the soup is now ready to serve. Carefully, he walked towards Hange’s room, a tray on hand.

Seeing her eyes shut closed and the furrow of her brows, Levi knew she was exactly having a hard time sleeping. Putting the tray on the bedside stand, his slender fingers nudged her awake softly.

She opened her eyes slowly, Levi’s face blurry in her vision without the lens of her glasses and the lights of her room.

“Levi?” She called out, her hand grabbing his shirt.

He looked at her blankly, “I made soup. Eat it.”

It sounded demanding but Hange didn’t have the energy to pay any mind to it as she sat up. Levi then placed the tray on her lap, leaving the glass of water on the bedside table.

However, much to their dismay, the brunette’s hand was rather shaky as the soup spilled on her chest. She yelped at it in surprise and the soup on the tray almost spilled but of course, Levi’s reflexes were quick enough to immediately hold the bowl of soup.

“Really now…” Levi could only exasperatedly stare at her as he placed the tray back on the bedside table. “You just got your clothes fucking wet. You need to change that. The bad odor will soon dry up and remain there.”

Hange innocently looked at him. “Can you get me my clothes?”

He raised an eyebrow at her.

“I had my clothes placed in that cabinet over there…” She pointed towards the huge closet near the window.

Without further ado, Levi went to open it and get at least some fresh new shirt. Walking back, he threw the cloth on her and crossed his arm.

“Hurry up and change.”

“I have no energy left…” Hange drawled out, trying to pull her shirt up. The raven-haired could only stare once again in disbelief, seeing the sheepish smile on the brunette’s face as she turned to him. “Would you mind… lending me a hand?”

Sighing, he approached her and tugged her shirt up. Levi was definitely staring straight into the wall and didn’t bother looking down.

“Don’t you dare peek, Levi.” Hange teased.

Levi scoffed at this. “As if.”

A moment later, he could hear Hange’s breathe when she successfully puts on the new shirt.

“Done.” It was only when Levi finally looked down at her and see her shit-eating grin which was enough to irritate Levi further. “I’m hungry. Can I continue eating it now?”

Levi placed the tray back on her. Picking up the spoon, the brunette was still incapable of holding it properly seeing how shaky her hand was. She yelped in surprise upon the realization it was rather hot.

“You didn’t tell me this is still hot.” She croaked out, glaring at him.

Levi rolled his eyes at her. Of course, it would be.

Left with no choice, he sat on the side of her bed sideways and turned to her. He then grabs the spoon from her, dipped it on the soup and tried to feed her with it. The brunette was rather surprised at the action, staring at him as the spoon paused motionlessly in front of her mouth, waiting for it to open.

Reluctantly, she opens her mouth and the raven-haired surprisingly fed her properly. He continued to repeat the action until there was none left on the bowl anymore.

The way Hange’s eyes continued to stare at his every move made sweat form on Levi’s forehead in nervousness. He had never handled anyone with such care until now. Especially for this shitty woman he doesn’t even know that much.

After eating, Levi willingly made her drink the medicine, holding the glass of water for her to gulp in.

With her once empty stomach finally filled, the brunette looked better than earlier. She gave him a mischievous smile and Levi could only stare back at her in his usual neutral look. Soon enough, he was then preoccupied with fixing the covers of her bed.

Noticing the messy books on the floor, Levi arranged it properly. Taking it back to the small shelf in Hange’s room.

“You can pass as a girlfriend.” Hange suddenly said. This caught Levi’s attention. Turning around to face the woman with a menacing look on his face. “You’ll be a good wife someday, Levi. I’m just saying.”

The deadpan look on Levi’s face made Hange grin wider.

A thought resurfaced in Hange’s mind which made her pause.

“Anyway, Levi, how did you even get here?” The ravenette was still busy tidying up her books. She continued. “My library was locked, it’s impossible to get in. My security’s pretty tight too.”

“You left it open, dumbass.”

Hange could only stare blankly at him. Realization struck her hard as she remembered the events that have happened the night before.

She went home, completely drunk and probably forgot to turn the security on. After waking up, her body was already burning in fever.

A mocking chuckle escaped her lips. This weirded out Levi who properly tucked her into bed, fixing the pillows and blankets around her.

“You.” The way Levi calls her out strictly made Hange shut up and look at him. “Rest.”

Levi then exits out of the room, bringing the empty bowl and glass with him.

It took him quite a while washing the dishes and the utensils he had used.

In all honesty, Levi still couldn’t believe that he took all the trouble in coming here and actually managed to take care of her decently. The most absurd thing is that he’s not even that closely associated with this shitty woman but the way they’re acting with each other made it seem like they didn’t just meet probably a month ago.

With the whole place lit up, Levi noticed how dull the place is. There wasn’t any furniture or even subtle decorations placed. He had noticed it ever since the beginning but this time, there weren’t any papers or books hogging the place up which made him see the whole place much more clearer.

The only thing he saw was the graduation photo of her hanged on the wall. Staring at it, Levi swore that Hange did in fact hardly changed. He suddenly remembered the pastries he had eaten the first time he came here, pondering if Hange still made those stuff.

Despite what he said, he did honestly find it decently good.

He went back to the room to check on her. This time, he carefully watched how Hange was just staring straight into the ceiling in silence. Only the small shade of light that came through the opened door was letting him see the gloomy expression on her face.

The brunette probably took notice of him seeing why she turned her head towards his direction.

“Hey, I’ve been thinking…” Levi walked in to grab a nearby chair and sat on it, now facing her who’s just watching his every move. “I slipped in my phone number in that book I gave you.”

He raised an eyebrow at this. So it was intentional after all, he noted.

A neutral look was plastered on Levi’s face. “Didn’t see it.”

He was lying. He just felt he had to lie.

And for some odd reason, he was slowly regretting not contacting her right after either.

Hange had a disappointed look on her face. “Oh…”

The way she just laid there, the once serious look on her face returning back as the darkness within the four walls loomed over them.

Looking over to her, the brunette reaches for her phone which was placed on her bedside table. This action reminded Levi of his own phone too and stood up from his seat.

“I’m just gonna go get something…”

Exiting out, he rummaged through his small bag for his phone. He pulled it out, turning on the screen and sees a lot of unread messages on his notification bar. However, just before he could click on one, Hange’s name suddenly appeared, calling him. This caught him by surprise and as if on reflex, he immediately whipped his head as fast as lightning towards her.

An action that he immediately regrets right after doing so.

“I knew it.” The voice came from both directions.

She sat up from her bed, staring at him, an annoying smirk on her face.

Shit. Levi could only stare back at her blankly, trying to keep up a calm façade, void of any embarrassment he just had due to getting found out.

Sighing, the brunette plopped back down to her bed, putting her phone by her side.

“I have been spacing out for the past weeks thinking if you ever saw my number, you know…”

Levi decided to at least man up and walked in towards her room out of guilt. “I was busy and shit.”

Silence.

No one spoke anything and Levi thinks of the ticking clock on the wall, how it is almost midnight and how much he needs to go home.

But before he could say anything, Hange finally replies. “At least you tried to save my number though.”

“Shut up.”

Hange chuckled at this, moving the back of her hand in front of her eyes, blocking her eyesight. “Thank you, Levi… For taking care of me.”

He didn’t say anything else. Maybe he’ll just go home when Hange’s finally asleep?

“Can I have one last favor?” The way the words sounded were very fragile and Levi finds himself ultimately curious about this.

He approached her, standing on her side. His usual look on his face was there, a mixture of exhaustion and concern. “What is it?”

Impulsively, Hange’s hand finds the fabric of Levi’s shirt, clenching on it.

The way her wide hazel brown eyes were glistering in the dark, made Levi unable to look away, as if something was pulling him towards her eyes, captivating his in the process.

Hange finally replied. “Please stay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter would probably take longer. i'll be apologizing in advance haha


	7. Chapter 7

Heavy footsteps continuously rushed on the hard concrete. Each step splashes the cold dirty water caused by rain the other day.

A tall lanky man, holding his two briefcases, barged into the building of Hange’s library.

Worry was washing all over him.

In a hurry, the briefcases were soon forgotten as he just outright threw it on the floor. It was morning and the whole place was still covered in darkness. The dirty footprints imprinted on the marble floor left unnoticed.

He is now standing in front of the door that connects to Hange’s compartment.

Rummaging on his pockets to get the keys, he then unlocked the door with utmost sense of urgency.

Moblit was freaking out.

What would he do if Hange’s already dying?

She hasn’t eaten anything nor drank any medicine. He did send her a lot of messages and calls last night but everything was left unread. The lack of response made Moblit think about many terrifying possibilities that might’ve taken place.

He didn’t even bother to notice how clean the place is as he headed immediately towards the half-opened door to the brunette’s bedroom.

As he opened the door, the scene before him was so surprising that it almost made him faint.

A certain tall blond who ran after Moblit managed to catch up. It was Mike, surprised to find Moblit standing stone still by the door of Hange’s bedroom.

Worried. Mike immediately peeked at whatever’s inside. “What happened? Did she actually die---”

The words were cut off by the end of Mike’s tongue as he stared at the scene before them.

On Hange’s mattress laid… two sleeping figures.

That information alone is already surprising enough. They couldn’t believe their eyes for a moment. Staring dumbstruck at the scene.

Hange was never the type to sleep with someone nor share her bed with anyone.

But as Mike gazes towards the familiar raven strands of hair, the pale white skin covered in sheets, buried in the brunette’s long slender arms, he could only blink in further disbelief.

The person beside the brunette was none other than Levi.

Of course, Levi was definitely not a heavy sleeper.

As soon as the door barged open, he slightly moved from where he laid. The noise woke him up from his sleep and the first thing he noticed was the heavyweight on his body. It feels constricting and it was hard to move.

Fluttering his eyes open, he then noticed Hange’s hands all over him, leeching to him the whole night.

A little bit annoyed by his sleep getting disrupted, he forcefully sat up and rubbed his eyes, yawning.

It was only when he noticed the presence by the door.

Turning to the two frozen figures, Levi was still in a daze. “Who are you?”

Moblit was completely exasperated at the question.

Right in front of him is a man he had seen for a few times in the television and the magazines of his female peers. His face could literally be seen everywhere. Be it by the posts on the streets or by the towering buildings in Tokyo.

The most absurd of it all was the fact that beside raven-haired is his long-time friend and a very respected superior he swore he had known all of his life.

He furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance at the ravenette, obviously offended by the question.

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking why a person like you is sharing a bed with Hange?!”

Moblit was filled with so much frustration. The man was obviously itching to approach them and pull him out of the bed.

The hell? So early in the morning? Levi thought to himself, staring back at Moblit.

Where is he here in the first place? Why is he sharing a bed with Hange? Is four-eyes finally fine?

There were countless questions drowning his mind.

These thoughts went into a halt when his eyes met with Mike’s. Levi’s eyes widened as the realization dawned in.

He immediately turned to the brunette who’s still stuck with him. She had her whole body pressed by his side and her hand wrapped over his waist tightly.

The innocent look on her face was so calming that if only he wasn’t in such a situation as this, he would’ve spent a lot of time just staring at her.

What the hell?

Embarrassed, he then tried to extract her hands but the brunette groaned in annoyance and tightened her hold on him.

“Hey, four-eyes, let go. I’m getting out of bed.” He whispered to her, trying to shake her off.

However, Hange mumbled out sleepily reply in return. “Not yet…”

Levi could only stare down at her in frustration. Glancing at the other males, they could only continue to give him a look of utter disbelief.

Fuck, Levi mentally cursed. What situation did he just walk into?

\---

Echoes of spoons and forks crashing into each other, plates bumping and the sizzling sound coming from the kitchen filled the entire room. Levi sat on one of Hange’s sofa, trying to distract himself with a book.

Mike and Moblit, on the other hand, were making breakfast in silence, preparing the dining table too.

No one has said even a single word after that whole ordeal.

The brunette just abruptly woke up, the tense atmosphere in the whole room went unnoticed and noisily headed to the bathroom, claiming shamelessly that she needs to take a dump.

Fortunately, Levi managed to walk away from the situation, using Hange’s noisy shit as a diversion.

Mike didn’t say a word to him either. Well, he was a little bit curious about why the hell Moblit and Mike were together.

Well, in the first place, how did that happen anyway? Why was he in Hange’s bed?

He could only curse internally as he tried to reminisce the following events.

For some reason, he finds himself agreeing to stay with her. Supposedly, the chair was enough for Levi to sleep. He had spent countless nights before sleeping on a mere chair. That’s precisely correct. It was what he had in mind when he agreed with her.

However, while he sat on the side of Hange’s bed, waiting for her to let go of his shirt, he probably fell asleep in the process and went crashing down on the bed.

Tch.

He could only curse himself in embarrassment.

The silence lingering in the air was soon obstructed by Hange who just went out from the bath.

“Is it breakfast now? I just took a bath while I was at it too.”

Levi looked up to her seeing how she’s currently walking towards his direction.

To get her attention, the raven-haired casually says. “Great. You won’t smell as stinky as yesterday.”

He succeeded at this as the brunette’s chuckle came after.

“Don’t remind me of my stupidly poor state yesterday!” She cringes at the thought of herself sick and helpless. “Honestly, everything is still a little bit blurry for now… but you really saved me big time yesterday, grumps. Thanks.”

The genuine smile the brunette directed at him was so raw that Levi finds himself averting his eyes away from it.

“Ha,” He scoffed. Attention back to the book casually. “Are you finally fine—”

“Hange-san!” The loud voice of Moblit Berner interrupted. Approaching the brunette, both his hands flew on either side of her shoulder, shaking it softly. “Are you finally fine?”

Levi clicked his tongue in annoyance. Great job, he sarcastically thinks as he puts his attention back to the book. Definitely not pleased at Moblit interfering.

Chuckling, Hange was filled with so much energy. “I’m perfectly fine now!”

“Did he do something to you?”

Levi glanced at Moblit who’s asking such an offending question. They locked eyes for a moment before the taller man averted his gaze away, a confirmation that it was indeed intentional.

Tch. Why’s that brat acting like that?

“No! No! He made me food when I was hungry as shit and gave me medicine.” The brunette finds the idea funny, laughed this off and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, okay?”

After a couple of accusing questions from Moblit, Mike soon intervened, telling them that breakfast is ready.

They all sat on Hange’s dining table, with the woman repeating that it’s been a while since she had lots of people in her home.

Levi was quiet the whole time, acting stiff as shit.

Well, who wouldn’t?

Moblit was stealing glances at him. As if calculating his every move and it was starting to annoy the hell out of the poor raven-haired.

He wanted to engage in some conversation with Mike or Hange to at least have something that could put all his attention into. However, both were preoccupied with talking about Mike’s girlfriend, Nanaba.

Luckily, time seemed to be in favor of Levi since Mike suddenly stood up, announcing that he has work to do and he’s almost getting late. Shooting a knowing glance at Levi, the raven-haired got the message and bid his farewell.

It was nerve-wrecking as hell.

Moblit still wouldn’t stop staring at him and it was starting to creep the hell out of Levi. Sure, he was used to people’s eyes estimating him and all but this isn’t a magazine shoot he’s posing to.

These are eyes filled with so much suspicion.

Mike headed outside first. He had to ready the engine of his car while Levi went to grab his things.

He was in the middle of self-loathing as he stared back at his reflection in the mirror. Staring specifically at the clothes he wore. It was still the same clothes as yesterday and this fact disgusted the hell out of him, fixing the cuffs of his sleeves.

Before he could step out of the building, Hange suddenly stops him on his tracks, grabbing him by his wrist.

Turning to her, he was met with her hazel brown eyes, staring straight into his soul.

Hange tilted her head to the other side and showed her phone. “Text me, will you?”

He stared at her face, analyzing the expression she had. It was obviously deprived of any ulterior motives. There was none other cause aside from her just purely wanting them to keep in touch with each other.

This was enough assurance for Levi.

Despite a little bit reluctant, he nodded at this. “I’ll text you later.”

Right after he said the words, Levi swore he just saw the brightest look on the brunette’s face.

\--

The following day, Levi was once again drowned in the daily hectic schedule of his life.

Photoshoots almost never end, one after another, different brands wanting him on their covers. He had gotten bored of his face as he would literally see it anywhere.

Even at night, the advertisements of him on the huge buildings of Tokyo would still continue to illuminate. Headlights reflected on the window of his car running at a slow pace, enough for him to see ordinary people busily walking by the sidewalk, having fun and living their lives freely.

Popularity isn’t always a good thing. The same number of fans would crowd the outside of his agency every day. Same old paparazzi following him everywhere he goes. Unknown stalkers hiding in the shadows.

He had no privacy for himself and it was annoying the hell out of him.

But what he can do? This is the path he had chosen.

Levi’s leisure time would always be spent in silence. Overthinking about his life-choices, regretting every shit he has done, continually thinking about his image in the public eye and getting self-conscious on whatever comments he read online.

It was a generic, dull and lonely life. Yes, he was well-liked, rich and successful.

But it was getting stressful and he was only human after all.

It was pretty much lonely.

For the past few days though, instead of mulling over himself, Levi finds himself busily fiddling on the screen of his phone.

No. It wasn’t the reviews from his fans that he would be reading. It wasn’t the feedbacks. It wasn’t the mean comments he’d sometimes take to heart.

It’s a message from a certain someone that he always finds himself looking forward to.

Be it by breakfast.

Hange: Look at this, Levi. I just found another secret formula for this cookie. Super delicious!

Lunch.

Hange: I almost burned this TT I got distracted by a cat outside my back door.

Dinner.

Hange: Moblit gave me a lot of things I could research for tonight. I’m so excited!!

Levi: Don’t forget to eat, shit-glasses.

Hange: LOL

Hange: I almost forgot.

Despite the neutral look on the raven-haired, he was pretty much enjoying these whole text exchanges. He was definitely not the type to talk over messages but it can’t exactly be helped.

“And that’s a wrap!” The director shouted from beside the camera.

Everyone clapped their hands once again. Levi steps away from the camera after exchanging farewells with the staff.

Eld was beside him, checking his schedule. “The next shoot will be in thirty minutes. You can take a break for ten minutes.”

Sitting inside his dressing room, waiting for his glam team to arrive, he then grabbed the phone out from his bag.

As usual, there’s already an unread message in his notification bar from a certain someone.

Hange: I was so busy today! My experiments blew up and Moblit was acting like a mom. I haven’t gotten out of my place for a week now.

Levi: Did you take a bath?

Hange: Levi…

Hange: You DO know I’m busy right?

He rolled his eyes at this. A thought came in his mind, looking over Oluo who was busy preparing equipment.

“Oi, Oluo.” He called out and the man immediately whipped his head at the call. “Tomorrow is an off-day, correct?”

This caught Oluo off-guard as he hastily reached for Levi’s schedule. “Yes… for the whole day.”

“Great then…”

He then typed something on the screen of his phone.

Levi: I’m going to check on you tomorrow, shit glasses.

Hange: Yeeeeey (＾▽＾)

Hange: Bring me some coffee okaaay?

Talking with this shitty woman never gets stressful. Through her, even for a short time, he’d sometimes forget the burden his career has given him.

The continuous “check on you” soon became a part of Levi’s schedule.

Every week, he finds himself inside the comfort of Hange’s home. The brunette, on the other hand, was rather welcoming. Even though there are times that Moblit was there, which can be kind of irritating.

“You’re always cleaning, Levi…” Hange stated one time. Noticing that every time the raven-haired would be here, it would be either him cleaning her or cleaning her place.

Levi who was arranging her junk of books scoffed at this. “This is important. Who would want to live in such a place full of mess?”

“I’ve been living here for the past years of my life though.”

“And you got sick.”

“That was invalid.” She looked unamused, bending over the kitchen counter to prepare the oven. “First of all, I had a stupid hungover at that time. I even accidentally drank that strong liquor.”

Levi remembered the incident.

“Not only that but I was kind of pulling an all-nighter days before that incident. All my exhaustion probably piled up and got me sick.” Hange added, putting the pastries she made in the oven to bake it.

“You need to actually pull your shit together and take care of yourself, four-eyes.” Levi stated, a little bit annoyed at the fact that Hange has the tendency to drive herself into extreme exhaustion just to mark things done.

Hange chuckled at this, “You’re sounding more and more like Moblit, Levi.”

“Tch. Shut up.”

Why is he suddenly being compared to Moblit?

“Anyway,” Squealing in delight, Levi turned to watch her placing down the freshly baked pastries on her table. “Hurry up and put away your cleaning materials, clean freak! You need to try these out now!”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Well, he had been liking her pastries lately. As if he’d ever admit it though.

There were a lot of things Levi got to know about her. She was surprisingly a good cook, crafty with her hands and absolutely a very brilliant person. He had gotten to know more deeper about her. With Hange, there was no need to ask questions.

The pressure of overthinking about the words that would come out from his mouth deemed no importance anymore.

Hange’s inquisitiveness is boundless and he finds himself strangely drawn to this.

Even his fragile childhood, he never would’ve thought he’d tell her about it.

It just happened one time when the brunette talked about her family. How her parents died on their way to get to her Graduation. It was a plane crash and their bodies exploded along with the plane itself.

There was nothing they can redeem anymore.

Hange looked so hurt. This was obviously bothering Levi. A small voice at the back of his head pushing out all the memories he had kept inside for a long time.

Thus, Levi finally opened up about his.

His cursed childhood.

The way her mother was physically abused by his father. Glass smashing down the floor, the broken pieces splattered around and the way his mother fell to the ground, crushing into it. The shards cutting through the flesh of her skin. Droplets of blood dripping over the cold concrete.

All he could do was stifle his cries, tears spilling rapidly from his eyes as he hid inside the closet of his mother’s wardrobe.

“My mother… had a lot of men coming after her…” It was getting harder to breathe. However, Levi is indeed a skilled actor. The way the words flowed out from his mouth was terrifyingly so casual. “I can’t blame her though. That’s her job… It’s not her fault why they got so attached to her.”

There was nothing but indifference inside his eyes.

Remembering such things was indeed never a good thing.

But for some reason, there’s a part of him that wanted to share at least a piece of himself to the woman beside him who was listening carefully.

“Funny how they would even stoop to something as low as murder driven by nothing else but anger.”

When the story finally reached its end, there was nothing but silence looming over them. He was about to say something to the quiet brunette when he noticed her movements.

“I’m sorry to hear that…” The way her voice croaked at this sounded so fragile that even Levi felt a pang in his chest. Staring into her eyes, he noticed how it was filled with grief and hatred.

The next thing he knew, the brunette had her arms wrapped around him. Her hand caressing the top of his head.

She then whispers. “It must’ve been rough for you, huh?”

At that moment, Levi couldn’t believe that he was actually capable of crying in someone’s arms.

\---

Instead of going home straight, Levi would always drop by a certain place.

It was the same routine, putting his hoodie on and his black specs to at least cover himself away from the blinding lights of cameras and lingering eyes of strangers.

Of course, this behavior wasn’t left unnoticed by the people around him.

Mike had noticed it for a long time but never puts a word on it.

Even Erwin was really surprised when Levi showed himself in his office with a question that he had never heard before.

“Can I take off work early today, Erwin?”

It was indeed very rare and the blond finds himself blinking at him in disbelief.

The speculations in his head were proven true. Mike did say that lately, Levi’s getting more eager to leave work early.

He puts down the documents he was surfing through on the table before him. “Would you mind telling me why?”

The way the grey irises looked away for a split second was enough confirmation for Erwin that it is something Levi doesn’t want to tell.

“No reason.”

Without complications, Erwin nodded at this. “But be sure to come early tomorrow. The photo shoot would be in another city.”

At the approval, Levi took off fast, bidding him farewell.

Soon after, Mike showed up in his office, plopping down on the sofa, facing Erwin.

Sighing, he leaned on it comfortably. “So… Levi just left.”

“Did you send him off?”

“No.” Mike grinned at Erwin. “He went to call for a cab.”

Erwin raised an eyebrow at this. “Pretty unusual of him.”

“Sure is…” Mike’s voice trailed off. Already having a person and a place in mind where Levi is obviously off to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk if i managed to write their development right. HAHAHA please forgive meeee!! 
> 
> next chapter coming right next.


	8. Headline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I'm honestly sorry it took me a while to actually update. I've written it for a long time but it actually had 6k words and I felt that is super long for a chapter, thus I omitted a lot of unnecessary parts and reduced the word count into 4k (still long lmao)
> 
> Honestly thinks the first part of this chapter was unnecessary haha. please do enjoy thooo!

“Hey… Armin… why do we need to read books so early in the morning?”

The voice echoed throughout the whole place. It disrupted the peaceful silence lingering through the bookshelves, gigantic chandeliers and the empty chairs made of golden steel. Only the small flickering light from a huge lampshade was the one lighting the spot where a certain trio sat.

Flipping on the page of his book, Armin turned to Eren, giving him a displeased look as he stared down at the male brunette who had his face on a book. “You said you wanted to hang out, Eren.”

“But it’s seven am…” Eren whined incredulously, yawning a little bit. “This place makes me sleepy.”

“You can go home if you want, you know?”

Eren looked at the nonchalant look on Armin’s face as the blond continued to read.

He could only sigh. Not exactly wanting to do that either. Eren turned to Mikasa who looked rather composed beside him, carefully reading a book.

“Hey, Mikasa. Aren’t you tired?”

Mikasa glanced at Eren before answering with a slight shake of her head. “Not really.”

Staring at the raven-haired girl’s demeanor, Eren was trying to see through her lie. The brunette exactly knew that Mikasa is as tired as him. They stayed up until eleven last night basically because they got so into reading their lines for an upcoming play that they’ve lost track of the time.

The brunette eventually gave up. It was too peaceful and the comfort lingering within the huge place was indeed very soothing.

Packed with lots of books and with only the three of them inside, Eren swore he could take a nice nap or anything. But the two people in front of him think otherwise.

Sighing, he leaned comfortably on the backrest of his chair. “How did you even get inside, Armin?”

“I had spare keys.”

This made Eren pause, staring wide-eyed at his friend.

“Hange-san actually gave you the spare keys?” He looked at him in amazement, obviously bewildered.

A boastful chuckle escaped the blonde’s lips as he slowly puts down his book. He was blushing a little, obviously delighted at the fact. “That’s right, Eren. She said she wanted me to learn more. It was a little bit overwhelming at first but I slowly got used to it.”

“Woah! Isn’t that great? You don’t have to be all alone in that house.” Eren looked genuinely happy.

Mikasa agreed with Eren wholeheartedly. “Good for you, Armin.”

Precisely, the library did become another home for Armin eventually. He was always fond of books and Hange lets him stay in the place for free. Stealing a glance at the other two who’s with him, he had a satisfied smile on his face.

Soon enough, the blond-haired got so into the book he was reading that he had lost track of the time. Finally arriving on the last page, he looked so delighted at this achievement. He is finally done with the piece of literature that he had been reading for two days straight.

The story was definitely worth his time. Well, now that it’s finally finished, he needs to find another book to read.

It was only when he had noticed that his two companions were actually already dozing off to sleep with Mikasa sleeping by sitting straight and Eren sprawled out on the table.

Well, he couldn’t really blame them. Both of them had their lives split into two, balancing work and studies. They’re going to be in college next year and Armin had already prepared for a study session for his two friends, especially Eren.

Standing up, he went to one of the bookshelves to search for more. He headed towards the bookshelves nearby Hange’s compartment since the great ones were usually placed there; it is the brunette’s personal favorites.

In the middle of his search, the door from Hange’s compartment opened.

Turning to the direction, the teen mustered the most genuine smile he could ever deliver. “Good morning, Hange—”

However, his blue irises widened in further surprise when a stranger emerged out of it. The man had raven hair, an irritated look on his face, pale white skin and he was quite short.

Well, the gloomy aura emitting out from the man’s scared Armin. As if on reflex, he immediately hid himself behind the bookshelves.

What is a stranger doing in Hange’s place early in the morning?

That man wore casual clothes too.

A little bit scared, Armin walked back towards his friends who were both soundly sleeping. He woke them up in a rush, shaking both their shoulders lightly. Mikasa was the first one to flutter her eyes open at this meanwhile Eren, on the other hand, was murmuring about being distracted in his sleep.

“Someone suspicious… someone I don’t know is in the library!” Armin was filled with fear, trying to suppress the rising tone in his voice.

This woke Eren up abruptly, immediately asking. “Where is that person?”

“It’s a guy, Eren. As far as I know, only Moblit-san had the accessibility to this place. I’ve never seen that guy around Hange—”

“Relax, Armin.” Mikasa soothes him, holding on his hand.

Eren pondered, tilting his head to the other side, looking nonchalant as ever. “Well…It might just be her boyfriend—”

“Shhh!” A hand flew on Eren’s mouth. Eren could only look at Armin in confusion. 

The other male was trying to stop him from talking any further upon seeing the looming silhouette of the person he had just seen earlier.

Soon enough, a door creaking open can be heard throughout the place once again. However, this time it was accompanied by a very familiar cheerful laugh which the trio recognized as Hange’s.

“I already told you! These teabags I’m talking about are really good and expensive. Moblit even bought it overseas when he was on a business trip.”

A deep scoff could be heard. “Is that so.”

Two figures soon emerged from the bookshelves and Eren could only widen his eyes in surprise upon seeing the familiar ravenette who walked so casually, trailing after Hange who was still blabbering about a so-called “tea” she had kept.

Both adults seemed to not notice them since they were rather far away. The table they sat on was in the middle of an aisle, precisely in between the looming bookshelves. Hence, they could only further watch in silence.

The duo stood by the counter where the librarian usually stays at.

Hange points towards atop the shelves as she frustratingly said. “Well… I put it up there.”

It was quite far. Well, the brunette could’ve easily reached it if only she had a chair to step on.

Crossing his arms and head upturned towards the top shelf, Levi scowled at her. “Why did you even fucking put it up there?”

“Come on… you already know it yourself, anyway.”

“Tch. You and your stupid little stunts.”

Her smile was filled with so much mischief and Levi could only roll his eyes at this.

The tea was indeed purposely put up there by Hange in hopes of pranking poor Moblit the other day. Luckily, this obviously backfired since the brunette got so into the work that she had forgotten to ask him for tea.

Hange seemed to be still in deep thoughts, pondering on whatever alternatives to get the tea.

Rolling his eyes at her, he turned his head around the area within them, eyes in search of something.

“Do you have some high stool or something?”

“Of course, I do.” However, a realization made her abruptly stop what she had intended to say as the bespectacled woman tilted her head to the other side in disappointment. “But it’s on the 3rd floor… Will you get it for me though?”

Levi glared at her, expressing extreme disbelief at Hange’s question. “Are you seriously asking me that?”

In retort, Hange had a coy smile on her. “Figures you’d say that.”

Soon came silence as they continued to stare at the top of the shelf.

How did that four eyes put it up there? Levi could only stare at the bespectacled woman in utter disbelief. Hange noticed this look as she turned back to him and gave an apologetic smile.

Averting his eyes away, an absurd thought came into the mind. Even he himself couldn’t believe that he just thought of such a thing.

However, Levi’s morning is always spent with tea. He frowned at the thought of disrupting that routine.

Letting out a heavy sigh, the ravenette finally had a firm decision in mind. Without further ado, the brunette can only watch him with a baffled look on her face when Levi suddenly squatted down in front of her with his back turned at her.

Questions were about to come out from her mouth but the raven-haired beat her into doing so as he finally said something.

“I want some tea, Hange. Hop on.”

Truth be told, the brunette couldn’t quite see the expression Levi is currently wearing. Embarrassment was evident though seeing the shade of red on his pale skin right on the tip of his ears.

It took quite some time for Hange to process what Levi just did. She honestly didn't expect that.

“Oooh! What a surprise!” Hange squealed, laughing to herself. “But can you even carry me though? I mean… you’re quite small, Levi—"

This earned an annoyed glare from Levi. “Don’t make me change my mind, four-eyes!”

“Sorry… sorry…” Despite her continuous apologies, Hange was still snickering annoyingly as she tried to hop her leg on Levi’s shoulders.

The brunette was still in the middle of trying to securely wrap both her legs on his shoulder by that moment when Levi tried to make her shut up.

All the funny look on her face abruptly shifted into a horrified expression when Levi intended to catch her in surprise, standing up immediately without telling her. Hange shrieked, her voice echoing through the whole place.

The shriek obviously made a certain trio jump, watching a very rare scene before them. Even Eren himself couldn’t believe that it was indeed the famous stone-cold Levi.

Levi’s eyesight was soon blinded when Hange’s hands hugged his head in fear. This action made him regret doing that as the brunette’s hands accidentally ruffled his hair into a mess.

He hated it the most when someone messes his hair.

Finally composed, Hange playfully smacked the top of the raven-haired’s head. “Levi! You bastard!”

“Oi. Stop fucking messing my hair and get the job done.”

“Yeah, whatever, shorty.” She then successfully reached the box at the top of the shelf.

Moments later, Hange’s back standing on her feet with a grouchy Levi trying to ease the pain on his shoulder. The brunette threw him an offended look as the other continued to ignore this.

“Do you even eat…” Levi says after a while.

This surprised the bespectacled woman who was busily looking at the tea inside the box. Looking up, she was met with Levi’s straight face.

Tilting her head to the other side, she mused. “I thought your shoulders are aching?”

“Of course, it would be. You’re skinny as hell.”

This earned a hearty laugh from Hange which annoyed Levi as he proceeds to fix the raven strands of his hair that the brunette obviously turned into quite a disaster.

Hange’s hand flew over his hair once again, ruffling it as she laughed. “I’ve been eating a lot more lately though because of a certain midget. Don’t worry.”

“Who said I’m worried?” Levi clicked his tongue and tried to smack her hand away from his hair. “…and quit that!”

Stepping back, Hange suddenly pinched his cheek, teasing. His eyes soon sent daggers at her for committing such an outrageous action.

“Just a little thought came in mind… you actually look cute with your hair in a mess, Levi.”

Grey irises widened at this, obviously caught off-guard. Breaking out from his trance, Levi could only furrow his eyebrows in feigned annoyance, averting his eyes away from her, embarrassed at the bold statement.

He could feel Hange snickering beside him as he saw how lightly red his face was as he stared at his reflection on the glass of a cabinet.

Tch. Stupid, four-eyes.

The lively atmosphere between the two only drowned the by watchers in further confusion. Levi was obviously being bashful as Hange continued to playfully tease the poor raven-haired.

Armin swore he almost felt eyes bulged out when Hange suddenly brought a hand on the raven-haired’s cheeks and made him turn to her. Levi had his back facing on them and the way Hange leaned closer made it seemed like they were… well… kissing.

Looking to the male brunette beside him, Eren was also obviously filled with so much disbelief.

“What was that for, shit glasses?”

Hange leans back. “You had some dirt in your face. Dust.”

Clicking on his tongue, Levi accidentally glanced at the direction where a certain trio sat.

Eren could only widen his eyes in surprise upon the realization that Levi is now staring at him, surprised also etched on the usual neutral look on the other male’s face.

Levi literally tensed from where he was standing. Noticing this, Hange turned her head towards whatever he was looking at.

The way her eyes widened made Armin ponder if what speculation he had in mind was indeed true.

For a moment, there was a deafening silence between them.

It was Hange who was the first to react.

“O-Oh!” The way her voice stammered was evident. “You guys scared me, it’s actually just the three of you.” She chirped, immediately waving a hand at the three. “So early in the morning too…”

Armin awkwardly waved a hand back at Hange. “I brought my friends with me today.”

“Hey Eren! Mikasa!” Hange cheerily walked towards them, throwing the teabag to Levi in the process and Levi looked ultimately displeased at this. “Make me one too, will you?”

He stared at her in disbelief.

“Fine.”

Surprisingly, Levi seemed rather obedient and immediately walked away from her, going back inside to brew the tea.

As the brunette approached the trio, their eyes were still trailing after Levi except for Mikasa who already had her eyes cast down on the book, uninterested anymore on whatever was happening.

Armin was the first one to speak up. “Who was that, Hange-san?”

Eren beside him looked so eager to hear an answer too.

With so much ease, Hange sat on the vacant seat in their table. “Oh…Levi. He’s kind of helping me out with my research.”

Eren and Armin looked at each other.

“You do know him right?” Mikasa suddenly questions. Noticing the mixture of surprise and nervous look on the bespectacled woman, the raven-haired realized something and forfeited her question. “Nevermind.”

Silence loomed over the four people on the table. Even Armin felt that what Mikasa had said made Hange tensed up in her seat. He was supposed to question her but immediately threw away the idea upon hearing Levi’s incoming footsteps.

“So Armin, how’s school? Is it going fine?” Hange finally spoke up, catching Armin’s attention.

“It’s fine… Although, there’s an assignment in chemistry that I was really confused about…”

“No worries,” Hange’s eyes glinted in excitement. “I can help you with that.”

Levi soon arrived, sat beside Hange and placed the cup of tea in front of her as the brunette continued to blabber. He was about to sip on his tea when he realized that Armin’s attention wasn’t on the speaking brunette but on him.

He raised an eyebrow at him. “What? Do you want a drink?” This made Hange paused her blabber. “Go brew it yourself.”

“Levi!” Hange reprimands.

On Mikasa and Eren’s case, they were just purely curious regarding Levi’s rare act of kindness.

Armin, realizing that the raven-haired was talking to him, immediately shook his head. “No! We’re not into tea, sir.”

Levi just shrugged his shoulders at this.

The prolonged one-sided conversation from Hange’s end continues. Soon enough, even the once suspicious Eren finally began to get a little bit talkative and accidentally brought up his work.

For a fleeting moment, he swore he felt how Levi froze. He literally daggers pointing towards himself for having the gall to bring up the celebrity industry.

“So you’re participating in a play?” The bespectacled woman pondered. “When will it be? I’ll try to clear my schedule beforehand so that I can go and watch.” Turning to the usually quite Mikasa, she added. “Are you in it too?”

“Yes, we’re the lead characters…”

“That’s great!” Hange clapped her hands in delight. “Man, I’ve been itching to go watch a live play for a long time now.”

Her eyes were literally sparkling in excitement and Levi could only continue to sip on his tea silently until he noticed the same eyes now staring at him as if nudging him to stare back.

It was too tempting. Thus, he did stare back. “What?”

“You will come with me, right?”

As expected. The stare she had been sending him ever since earlier was enough of a message for him to understand.

With an unamused look on his face, he continued to sip on his tea. “I’m busy.”

The brunette pouted at this. Not taking the excuse fully. “Eh? But that’s Saturday…”

“I’m busy, Hange. Don’t be hard-headed.”

“What a bummer…” Hange frowned at this and eventually sighed, a disappointed look on her face. “Fine then.”

Silence.

The brunette was still sulking and Levi was trying to not give in.

Armin and Eren felt the atmosphere between the two thus, both were very startled when Hange suddenly turned to them, eyes once again glinting with the same enthusiasm every time she talks.

“So Eren… tell me more about it.”

\---

“You’re quite fond of those brats, huh?”

As always, Levi came over once again one evening to visit her for no reason at all.

Hange wasn’t questioning him why either.

Both of them were stuck on Hange’s sofa, taking comfort in the lingering peace of the evening.

Levi didn’t even mind the heavyweight on his lap as he continued to stare straight into the ceiling, seeping through the blinding lights of the fluorescent. He even had his arm draped over the backrest of the sofa as his other hand rests limply on Hange’s bare thigh.

Hange, who was reading a book and using Levi’s lap as a pillow, moved her book down from her face to take a look at Levi. “They’ve been through so much and they’re great kids too.

He hummed in reply and caught the attention of his reflection from the glassy kitchen counter meters away.

The way they were stuck with each other, skin to skin, with no space in between, made Levi question a lot of things. Many thoughts resurfaced once again in his mind. Pondering about whatever’s happening between him and Hange at the moment.

Looking back to the point where and when did they even start becoming as cozy like this.

Was it after meeting each other a lot out of coincidence? After he took care of her? After all the constant visits?

There’s one thing for sure; he didn’t really know.

Looking back, they’ve known each other for eight months now. Time really does fly so fast. He suddenly wondered about the person he is and the identity he has been hiding. Hange only knew him by his name “Levi” for a long time now.

Wasn’t she ever curious about it? About him? Where he always came from before visiting her?

He caught an eye of her research sprawled over the table. Levi suddenly remembered all the ramblings she had earlier about dissecting a very rare frog which is very venomous and dangerous.

Wait. A frog?

“Oi…” Fear washed over Levi, looking down at Hange who had her face covered by the book she was reading. “You… Did you wash your hands?”

Without looking up, Hange nonchalantly replied. “I did.”

“Thoroughly?” Well, the raven-haired just wanted to make sure.

“I did, okay?” Hange puts the book down, meeting his eyes. “Don’t worry.”

Sighing, he leans back yet again. “Then that’s fine.”

Comfortable silence loomed over them once again. This continued after a while until the longer hand of the clock turned, pointing at six. It was already evening, and Levi had spent his whole day inside the comfort of Hange’s compartment since it was his day-off.

Indeed. It is supposed to be a day-off when a phone suddenly rang.

“Isn’t that yours?” Hange stated, looking over his phone which was on the coffee table.

Levi gave a weary nod, and this was understandable enough for the brunette as she reached for it, giving it to the raven-haired who only mumbled an incoherent thanks.

There was a text from Erwin.

Erwin: This is urgent. Levi please report to my office right now.

Confusion washed over him, straightening up from his seat.

What is it this time? He sighed, looking at the brunette who was looking at him curiously.

“Hange… I think I need to go.”

“I thought it’s your rest day?” She asked innocently.

“I thought so too.” He replied watching Hange sitting up, urging him to stand up. “My boss texted me for something urgent. Probably work related-stuff.”

The brunette could only nod at him in understanding, watching Levi grab his things and puts on his hat. Hange even unconsciously helped him put on his coat while the raven-haired puts on his mask.

Oddly enough, this is indeed really suspicious of Levi but Hange had never questioned him either.

Another mystery left unanswered.

When he was by the door frame, he turned to the brunette who happily waved a hand at him.

As he stared at her, a sudden idea came into mind.

Levi thought that he should really tell her about him already. It’s about time anyway. Maybe the next time when he comes here to check on her again. He’ll tell her about it by that time.

No words would come out from Levi’s mouth and this caused them to keep on staring at each other until Levi unconsciously called out her name in a soft whisper.

“Yes?” she replied with the same soft tone, pure curiosity in her eyes.

He was getting drawn into her eyes and he is awfully aware of it. There is something in her hazel brown eyes that would always captivate his.

Averting his eyes away from her, Levi sighed. “I’ll text you.”

She chuckled to herself. “I’ll be busy continuing my experiment then. Better call me. That would be easier.”

Levi nodded and finally went away after bidding each other farewell. He was supposed to call for a cab when he saw a car parked from afar and Mike standing outside. Without further questions, he walked towards it, looking at Mike suspiciously.

Even when they were traveling, Levi still continued to stare.

“I’m not stalking you, quit that.” Mike finally says.

“How did you know I was there?”

Mike chuckled. “You’re not really subtle about that you know?”

Levi was still unconvinced.

This made Mike laugh further, “I’m serious. Erwin told me to pick you up.”

Raising an eyebrow, Levi looked convinced. “Oh, so you’re also called into that urgent shit Erwin was referring to?”

“Yeah.” Mike replied. “I wonder what it is about this time.”

However, when they arrived in the building, they were surprised to see a lot of media camping outside.

“Is there an occasion or something?” Levi was honestly so bewildered and clueless on whatever’s happening at the moment.

Mike shook his head. “Whatever it is. I think we have to go through the back door.”

Levi still can’t get it out of his mind as he continued to stare at them. A couple of staff were stationed by the backdoor when they arrived. Everyone shielded Levi, trying to cover him. Mike who was trailing after him could only get drown in further confusion.

“What’s happening? What’s with this tight security?” Levi questioned Oluo who was beside him.

“I don’t have any idea either, sir. The boss just instructed us to do so.”

He nodded at this and stride towards Erwin’s office. His footsteps felt heavy, having a really bad feeling on whatever’s happening right at the moment.

When they opened the door, the first thing they saw was Erwin’s back facing them and his profile looking over his wide glass window, staring down at the masses of media and the staff trying to keep those people away from the entrance.

It was a complete mess.

Mike and Levi were the only ones inside the vicinity and the raven-haired could feel the people standing outside in front of Erwin’s office for further security.

“You guys are finally here…” Erwin points out, finally turning to them. “Specifically you, Levi.”

Levi was definitely not used to the air of authority Erwin is currently emitting out. This must’ve been very urgent, he thinks.

“What’s the fuss all about, Erwin?”

The blond only sighed at him, nudging them to come forward as he slid a tablet on his table.

“See it for yourself.”

They approached the gadget without further reluctance. Levi could only exasperatedly stare at the stupid shit of gadget as he read the stupid headline and analyze the picture pinned on it.

Inside the screen of the tablet is a collage of him and his different plain clothes that he had continuously worn over the past few months. In each picture were different days and he swore he could feel his skin shiver at the thought of someone following him around, taking the shot.

Reading the headline back again, Levi almost felt his world shatter.

** JUST IN: International Model Levi Ackerman spotted not only once but countless of times undercover; a possible dating scandal? **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well... finally, the turning point? im not much of a fan of dramas so u can just expect that what's going to happen next chap really isn't that shitty hahaha


	9. Chapter 9

Sitting on her sofa with a book on her hand, Hange couldn't help but doze off for a moment. Levi just left an hour ago and she is once again all alone inside the hollow ambiance of her compartment. Since Moblit wasn't around, she had to close the library for the day. There was nothing else to do. She could go back and actually do some research but she had finished it weeks ago. 

Lying on the sofa, she hugged her pillow. 

A realization dawned in when a familiar smell came in her nose, staring at the pillow she had in her arms. It smelled of the familiar lavender fragrant that a certain someone always used. Be it with his detergent or his perfume.

Well... Levi did the laundry the day before. He must've used his own detergents. 

This has shown how much the ravenette has been hanging around her place that even his own personal scent left a trace. The corners were literally spotless, even the once tainted marble floor turned back to its original plain white tiles because of a certain someone's intensive cleaning.

Her books were properly tucked in the bookshelves. No more crumpled papers could be seen anywhere. Even her clothes were neatly folded in her closet.

Her former dull place suddenly felt new. 

Hange smiled to herself. The fact that he has been the one doing the household chores which was supposed to be her responsibility made a very vivid idea come into mind. A simple life where she could do all her shit as Levi would act like a funny wife, following her messes around. Giggling, Hange thinks how absurd her thoughts were. They're adults now. It isn't the time to indulge themselves in childish things such as playing house. 

She snapped out from her trance upon the realization, embarrassed at herself. Why is she even thinking about such a thing?

The brunette continued to mull over herself, looking up the ceiling, thoughts somewhere else. Wondering what Levi must be doing right now.

Truth be told, there are still a lot of things she doesn't know about Levi. He is indeed a really mysterious man who always had such an unreadable expression on his face, rarely giving out hints that she could've used as a key element to know more about him. Usually, it'd just be his look of annoyance on whatever farces she would come up with or his eyes filled with so much mockery when teasing her. 

Hange sighed. Looking back, Levi is either annoyed or irritated with her. These made her question why the raven-haired is still always after her. 

Yet the time she had spent with him made her think otherwise. Every time they would be joking around with their shitty humor regarding poops and shit. Occasionally, there are even times where he would've such a soft look on his face, a thing which she never worded out and kept it to herself. All these interactions gave her a huge margin of what Levi really is beneath the surface.

Sighing, she puts the back of her hand over her eyes, hindering her eyesight from the blinding lights on the ceiling. 

"I already miss him..." She unconsciously says to herself. 

The familiar smell on her pillow and the silence surrounding her slowly tempted her to fall asleep. The pent-up exhaustion caused her eyelids to get heavy, obviously sleep deprived for a couple of days. 

The only time Hange gets a good night's rest is when the raven-haired would come visit her. His non-stop reminder of her going to sleep early never ends.

Before her senses could surrender to sleep, a loud bang abruptly woke her system up. It was continuous and it honestly scared the crap out of Hange as she immediately sat up from where she laid down, turning to which door the banging came from. 

Surprisingly, the sound was coming from the backdoor which was supposed to be impossible seeing how the way towards the area is filled with a lot of hurdles, especially those crawling roaches and how dim the pathway is at night.

Hange was still contemplating whether she would open the door or what. It might be a thief for all she knows. 

Pulling out her phone, she planned to prepare for the worst and went to grab the broom near her door. 

She was about to twist the doorknob open when the loud banging stopped in an instant.

"Hange! It's me!" A very familiar voice came from the outside and as if on impulse she immediately unlocked the door and twisted the doorknob open. "Hange!"

Before the brunette could react, she was crushed into a very tight hug by Levi. 

"Levi?" she called out, still confused on why the heck Levi's hugging her.

The hug became tighter and the brunette decided to shut up for a minute. She could feel how his hands that were resting on the small space on her back, shivered ever slightly. Levi's other hand went up, shifting towards her head, ruffling through her brunette locks. 

They stayed like that for a few minutes before Levi widened his eyes, impulsively released all his hold on her and stepped back. 

"I...I'm sorry for doing that." He says, eyes cast downward.

Hange was still obviously confused but shook her head regardless. "It's fine. Why did you come back? Did you accidentally leave something? I'll go look---"

"Will you let me in first?"

This made her pause, the tone in Levi's voice was such a rarity. Thus, she immediately steps aside. 

It prompted the raven-haired to finally step inside and Hange could only watch him as he finally closed the door behind and looked up to her. Levi was always serious and his face has always been devoid of any expression. But this time, she could feel how gravely he looked, something heavy in mind. 

Filled with so much confusion, Hange began. "Levi? Is there something wrong?"

The way his grey irises pierced into hers says it all. The brunette was still mystified at whatever's happening at the moment. 

"I need to fucking tell you something." Levi replied. "Very important."

"I'll listen."

The look on Levi's eyes felt so distant that even the brunette got hesitant to pry him about it any further. Levi was having a hard time forming his words, thinking on how to tell the brunette and where should he even start from. 

Glancing at the teapot on the counter, an idea came into mind. "We should discuss it over a cup of tea."

He gestured for the brunette to take a seat on her dining table. Without further questions, the brunette obeyed silently and sat still. She continued to watch the raven-haired who had his back faced on her, preparing tea. 

It was silent and she could feel the heaviness in the atmosphere.

"First of all..." He began, eyes straight to the cup. "I'm Levi Ackerman."

Hange continued to stare at him. Still clueless on whatever Levi's trying to attain. He's an... Ackerman? Is that supposed to be a huge thing?

She waited patiently for him to add something, definitely aware that even the ravenette is having a hard time voicing out what he wants. 

"I am a celebrity."

Silence.

Levi feared that this might've overwhelmed the brunette thus he stole a glance to take a peek at her expression. Hazel brown eyes widened and her mouth agape. Hange was surprised to learn of the fact, words still processing in her mind. 

With silent steps, he puts the teacup in front of her and pulled the chair across to take a seat. 

His resolve wasn't backing down either, thinking of things to add. There was no time for him to shit around, now is the only time to tell her the truth. Hange deserved knowing it. He was an ass for hiding it in the first place.

She must be scared now. Especially for someone like her who only wanted the comfort of her research, peace of her books and a simple life to indulged into... dating someone who had all the lenses of the cameras directed into would create a devastating impact on her lifestyle. 

Damn it. Hange still wasn't saying anything. 

He was about to add something when he felt the brunette shifted in her seat, finally grabbing the teacup. 

"Well..." She began, sipping on her tea before putting it back down once again. "Thank you for telling me, I guess?"

What the hell? Annoyance surged into Levi's mind. "Now's not the time to shit around, Hange. This is serious. The worst fucking thing is that I've been busted to have been fooling around with you!"

"You were just fooling around with me?" She asked innocently, wide eyes directed at him. 

This only made Levi furrow his eyebrows in further frustration. Does she not get the point?

"They're going to fucking follow you around; harass and interfere with whatever farces you're doing at the moment. It's only a matter of time now before they'd trace whom I've been meeting up lately." His voice shook ever lightly, thoroughly frustrated with the situation. "This is my fucking fault. If only I'd have been more careful enough---"

"Levi." The firmness in the brunette's voice made him abruptly stop. "Now is not the time to put on blames. You see, we should discuss the matter at hand first."

He stared at her, looking over the small smile on her face. This slowly eased the rising tension inside him as he grabbed his tea, sipping on it to ease his nerves. 

"So the urgent meeting you just referred to... is it about the news blowing up?"

Levi nodded. Upon reading the headline, he immediately bolted away from the office and even rashly tried to maneuver a fucking car. He did have some driving lessons from Mike a while ago but if the blond didn't catch up to him on time, he might've driven a car for the first time and might as well got into an accident.

The taller blond was considerate enough to not ask questions either.

Odd enough, the brunette smirked at Levi. "Right after you've heard of it, you immediately came back to me? That's so sweet of you, shorty."

"What are you stupidly implying?" 

"You were that worried." She replied, a teasing look on her face. 

There was a sudden lump on his throat at the bold statement. It was precisely correct and Hange definitely wasn't wrong. But there was something in him that made the truth harder to admit than he would've wanted to. 

Averting his eyes away, Levi puts down the teacup. "I was worried shitless, Hange."

Silence loomed over once again. The brunette looked taken aback by the way Levi profoundly spoke his words. 

"I got so fucking worried upon knowing the news. The media or those paparazzi were literally crowding the agency and I'm sure they'd soon found out the reasons and the locations I've been into. For all I fucking know, they've already barged here in your library. Creating a huge uproar and had fucking harassed you—"

Levi didn't even realize that he was already rambling. All his thoughts were in a mess and each of them rolled on his tongue in complete disarray. A soft touch hovered over his hand, already balled into a fist.

Looking up, he didn't even realize that Hange was already standing beside him, holding his hand. 

With the same genuine smile on her face, she spat out. "Calm down, okay? I'm fine. You're fine. We're both fine."

"But still..."

"Levi," Hange reached for his cheek, her soft feathery touch slowly took away all the pent-up exasperation he kept within. "I don't really care if you're a celebrity or what. I liked you for being... you. I'm fine with the prospects those cameras, stalkers, your fans or the society itself would throw on me. All I need is to prepare some precautions, right? I've been into much more dangerous experiments in my life, you know?"

Levi was lost at words on what to say. Unconsciously, he brought a hand to hover over Hange's, silently mulling over her touch as he stared straight into her eyes. Trying to weigh the sincerity behind her words. 

Her eyes were still as transparent as ever. The usual glint on her hazel irises, conveying nothing but complete honesty.

"Tch." He suddenly says, averting his eyes away from her. "This is why I fucking like you, damn it."

The words surprised Hange, her eyes widening in the process.

Embarrassed, she tried to retreat her hand away from him, awkwardly chuckling a little bit. "W-what are you talking about---"

However, Levi's hold on her hand went tight. 

"Hange, listen..." Levi began, his free hand went to touch her cheek. "I'm serious."

"Huh?"

"I said I'm serious, shithead."

The way Levi looked at her with the same expression on his face, eyebrows furrowed and lips quivering as if clearly annoyed at how embarrassed he was in what he was saying. This tugged Hange to smile a little bit, surprise fading away from her system. 

Batting her eyelashes at him, she smiled coyly. "Well then, Levi. This shithead likes you too. What are you gonna do about that?"

Levi was taken aback by this. "Are you challenging me?"

Hange suddenly leaned forward, kissing him right on the lips. It was too fast. She leaned away too fast that Levi didn't even manage to kiss her back despite wanting to. He glared at her as she steps away from him, a funny look on her face.

Crossing her arms, Hange snorted at him. "You know what, Levi? It took you too long to make a move on me. I was waiting for oh-so patiently too."

This caused a blush across Levi's cheeks. What Hange said hit him on the bullseye, flustered at the hard truth. 

"Shut up, four eyes..." He mumbled under his breath, frustrated at himself.

"Well, I really honestly thought that you were like some serial killer or some agent going undercover, you know? It took me all I have to restrain myself to ask you further questions." Hange sighed, back leaning over the counter. "My mind was literally minutes away from exploding, my curiosity isn't really a good thing, you see."

Looking up at her. Levi finally asked, "What are you getting at?"

This earned a narrow look from Hange as she suddenly walked towards him once again, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. 

"It means that you need to take responsibility for all my efforts, Levi!" 

The way her lips pouted as she looked at him in shallow annoyance surprised the raven-haired. Hange whines all the time so Levi was pretty much used to this. However, this time, he couldn't fathom how cute she looked and he was annoyed at himself for even thinking of that. 

As much as he hated to admit it but he had already fallen deep in her eyes. 

He sighed, a mocking smile on his lips. The action only made Hange grew annoyed. What is the stupid midget smiling at? Before she could even express what she had in mind, the brunette got caught off-guard when she felt a hand tugging over her ponytail, pulling her closer towards the raven-haired.

Their lips met and the only thing Hange could do was widen her eyes, staring straight into Levi who had his shut close. His kisses were forceful, trying to gain more entrance into her mouth as he pulled her closer to himself. 

This strong assertiveness made her eyelids fell, letting herself get drown in his kisses. The raven-haired on the other hand paused a little when he felt Hange kissing back at him. Damn it. Damn her. He could only curse at the fact that Hange is a god damn good kisser. 

It was Hange who pulled away first, licking her lips. "Is that how taking responsibility is like, Levi?"

"Tch. Damn you."

The next thing Hange knew was that Levi pushed her, her back hitting the hard surface of the table. She could feel the empty teacup shifting at the thud of her body. Before she could say something, Levi suddenly hovered over her. Both his arms at either side of her head. 

Hange was lost at words. Levi was staring at her with the same look on his face, nothing but vast seriousness. This made her embarrassed, feeling trapped in whatever spell he had cast on her. 

She turned her head to the other side. "S-stop staring at me..."

"Look at me, Hange." It was a command. 

"Stop staring at me first!" She countered back, still looking away, frustrated at how fast her heart was thumping. 

Levi could only look at her in disbelief. Is she being serious?

"I can't kiss you if you do that. Are you stupid?"

Offended at this, the brunette finally turned her head to him. "You looked like you were going to devour me! Of course, I'd be scared—"

Her words stopped mid-sentence as Levi lunged forward, his lips meeting hers. These kisses were different. It was trying to claim every corner of her mouth, his tongue mingling with hers. It was an odd and funny sensation for Hange. She could feel herself heating up, silently enjoying the intense fervor the kisses gave. 

Levi couldn't stop himself. It feels...so good. For fuck's sake, he had been wanting to do things like this for a while now. 

His hands roamed all over her body and the way Hange lets out a squeal when his hand came in contact with her breast made him pause for a bit. 

"Hey, why would you stop?" Hange whined, looking over him. 

Hange's face was bat shit red. Sweat formed over her forehead and her messy locks twirled all around her, sticking on the hard surface. Yet the way her eyes glinted with adultered lust and her pink lips half opened as a drool got stuck at the corner of her mouth; the sight made Levi's inside flutter. 

Furrowing her brows, she tried to pull Levi in. "Stop staring and kiss me—"

Hange did get what she wanted as Levi immediately continues his kisses. Things got so heated that Levi was about to pull her clothes, undressing her when a loud wailing sound suddenly filled the whole place, disrupting the tension between them. 

This obviously startled Levi, eyes wary as he immediately turned his head around the place. Using her elbows as leverage, Hange mirrored Levi's action, also startled and still a little bit out of it. 

Annoyed, Levi tried to push her back, trying to ignore the sound. However, the brunette refrained from doing so as she pushed his face away from her.

"What was that—"

"The security. Someone tried to break in, Levi." Hange suddenly sat up, prompting the raven-haired to detach himself away from her. Fixing her clothes unconsciously, the brunette headed towards the direction where the sound came from, walking towards her room. "Someone tried to barge into my library."

Dumbfounded, the raven-haired could only stare at her retreating figure. 

Who the hell is it this time? Way to ruin the fucking mood, he groaned in frustration. Catching his reflection on a mirror, he could only stare at his disheveled appearance. Hange messed up his hair and he looked disgustingly sweaty. 

"Levi! Come here and take a look at this." Hange called from another room. 

He could only sigh, postponing the appearance matter for later. Walking in towards her room, only the light from the computer illuminated on her face. She had the usual serious look on her face as she clicked on her mouse, her glasses almost sliding off her nose. 

Turning the lights on, Levi stood beside her, looking at the screen. 

"You see that, Levi? My security is the best!" Hange looked so proud, pointing on her screen. "My door is really hard, you see. It wouldn't even budge even if you'd kick on it or whatever shit people come up with just to barge through. Hackers are also having a hard time to bug on it and literally every corner of my place has no loopholes!"

He continued to stare at her as Hange got so into her blabbering. She looked so happy, proud and pride was overwritten on her face as she continued to ramble. This is Hange Zoe. The loud and eccentric woman whom he had met out of an absurd coincidence.

She turned to him, a very bright smile on her lips.

With that, Levi came into a firm resolve in his mind. He's fixing all these tomorrow. Definitely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo, i honestly tried hard to make their conversation somewhat meaningful or whatever but i am really shit with words. idk how to make amazing metaphors TT this took long because i was really a bit hesitant regarding this chapter. ugh, idk how to write shit w the feels :<


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you’ve reached the last chapter. bless you!

The birds were peacefully tweeting outside. The glass window in Erwin's spacious office was wide open enough for the morning breeze to come in. Filling the whole room is the ambiance of the freshly brewed coffee on his desk. He was still in the middle of self-indulgence when a certain raven-haired barged in his office, clothes the same as yesterday. 

Levi had a determined look on his face as he stood still in front of his desk. The taller man could only blink his eyes, confusion was written all over his face. It was such a surprise. Seeing Levi in such a messy state, bed-hair sticking out and his shirt crumpled. 

But what came after next was the most unbelievable thing of all.

"Erwin. Fire me."

As the words dawned in, Erwin leaned on his swivel chair. "What do you mean by that, Levi?" He grabs his cup of coffee, studying the look on Levi's face as he sipped on it. 

"I want you to fire me. I have no intention of stopping whatever it is between me and my..." Levi looked hesitant on his words. "...I mean, the one I'm seeing right now."

Erwin swore he almost choked on his drink. He abruptly stopped what he was doing and placed the cup down, gulping the hot liquid on his throat. Unbelievable. Levi of all people wanted to get fired himself and is actually dating someone?

It was indeed true. His speculations with Mike were proven true. 

"That is a really absurd decision, Levi." Erwin stated, looking at him with nothing but the same authority in his eyes. "Nevertheless, would you please enlighten me on why you'd want something like that?"

"Nothing special, really." The raven-haired looked neutral as ever. He had prepared of this for a hundred times last night but being confronted with Erwin's prying eyes and stern voice, it was harder than expected. However, he had decided and he figured out his resolve wouldn't back down either. "I've realized for a long time that being a celebrity isn't really for me. Sure, I did enjoy the short-lived fame and the success that came with it but I wasn't exactly happy. I've been itching to leave the industry for a long time now but back then, I did not have enough reason to do so."

"So... in short, Levi, you think that whoever you're seeing right now is worth the death of your career? Enough reason to give up everything?" 

Without much reluctance, Levi nodded at him. His choices firm. "She is."

This earned a sigh from Erwin. Well, who is he to refrain Levi from walking towards the path he wants?

"This is my loss, then." The blond leaned on his swivel chair, a breath of relief escaped his lips. Levi only watched Erwin as he grabbed his coffee and once again took a sip from it. "Well... honestly, I've been waiting years for this..."

"What?" 

Erwin smiled, a genuine one. "You've been too bent out on your career. No room for your personal happiness, no room for dating. I wouldn't want you to get old living like that. To be honest, I am honestly happy to know that you've finally found it. Someone you could risk everything for. Even this career that you've worked hard for the past years of your life."

Levi clicked his tongue at this. Not exactly embarrassed at Erwin's words but exasperated at it. Mike and Erwin had exactly been pestering him to date someone for a million times already. 

He couldn't believe that the blond would be happy about his sudden news instead of telling him off. 

"But you see, we can't really revoke your contract. You still had a year left." There was disappointment in Erwin's voice, his eyes expressing his frustration. "I think you still had to lay low your relationship for a year now."

This earned an irritated groan from the raven-haired. What now? A year before he could peacefully stay together with Hange in silence? 

He wouldn't exactly mind but Hange. . .

"That is risky, Erwin. The people might learn of her identity later or sooner! I wouldn't want that to happen." 

He thought of all the crowd of fans intentionally staying near Hange's library. Her place was crowded than usual too and Hange had promised to stay inside her place until Levi comes back. 

"What? You just knew that he is a celebrity?" Moblit shouted in disbelief, eyes wide at the brunette who directed a sheepish smile at him. 

Levi was obviously not liking this. "Stop overreacting. You don't have to shout—"

"You jerk! You've been taking advantage of her!" 

"Moblit!" Hange immediately called out, holding on the bright hazel-haired man. "He didn't exactly—"

"Fine." 

The two were surprised when Moblit suddenly froze and lets out a deep sigh. 

"You two called me here for something right?" Well, it was still early in the morning and the sun hasn't risen up yet. "Tell me what I need to do."

Upon hearing the words, the brunette dramatically sniffed as if tearing up at how kind her friend is. She immediately launched towards Moblit for a hug. "I knew I can count on you!"

The memory caused Levi's mood to become fouler. Hange, that shitty four-eyes, she's openly hugging some other guy in front of him. Well, anyway, Moblit was understanding enough to help out and take over the librarian job for the day.

"Levi." Erwin sternly calls out, breaking him out of his trance. "Regardless of that happening, all you're left with is to think of what to do when that situation arises. Her being exposed to the industry is inevitable now. Think of this as part of the consequences of your actions. I'm pretty much certain that even your girlfriend is aware of that truth. She's brilliant, isn't she?"

"Of course, she is." Levi rashly answers, annoyed at Erwin for even questioning that.

Erwin only smiles at him, amused at his reaction. "Well then, why won't you introduce me to her sometime? I would be pleased to meet the person who managed to tame you."

"Tame? What am I? A fucking dog?" 

The room was soon filled with the blond's boisterous laugh. 

Indeed, the upcoming days weren't an easy one. Even though they were hiding their relationship pretty well, no one can beat how amazing his fans could lurk in the shadows, stalking them. After three months of dating, Hange was found out and her name was brought to the public. All the tabloids that day was talking about her, writing every information the media knew about her.

"Oh my god!" The brunette looks at the article on her phone, her eyes scanning the same sentence all over again. "They said I'm such a genius here, Levi. This is such an exaggeration!"

Levi could only look over to her as he laid down on the bed of his room. Sure, ever since they were exposed, the raven-haired decided that they should just hang out in his place instead. 

"Isn't that a great thing? They weren't talking shit about you or anything."

"Still," She pouts at him. "They expected too much from me! It's kinda pressuring!" 

"Tch. Never mind that. Are you ready for tomorrow? Have you prepared your clothes? Have you read the questions that they may likely ask us?"

"Don't worry. I asked Nanaba for help in my clothes." 

"It better be not tightly-fitting..." The raven-haired eyes trailed down towards her body. Since Hange was just wearing her cycling shorts and a plain tank shirt, her slender arms...the curve on her waist and how slightly tanned her skin is were very noticeable on Levi's prying eyes.

His eyes stopped on her chest area, a thought came into mind.

Of course, this action wasn't left unnoticed by Hange as she furrowed her eyebrows. 

She definitely knows what he's thinking. "I know I'm flat-chested you know?"

He looked up to her, staring at the offended look on her face. "What's wrong with that?"

"You were staring at it like it was the only flaw in my body."

"What?"

They stared at each other. Hange was trying to make Levi give in but the raven-haired was rather stubborn. She sighed and immediately launched herself towards the bed, laying down with her face first next to him. 

"I'm going to sleep now..." She mumbled against the pillow, obviously sulking. 

Levi only stared at her childishness. He was torn between annoyed at this or finding this side of her cute. Damn, he is annoyed at himself for having such a soft spot for her. 

Thus, he wrapped an arm over her, trying to pull her towards him. 

"Let's sleep together then." 

It was enough to convince Hange as she soon retaliated and faced him.

The next day wasn't such a great one. Together, they attended an interview for Levi as he finally decided to open up about his relationship with Hange to the public. It was exactly Hange's idea. Levi was strongly opposed on at first, not liking the idea of making Hange endure the criticizing look of the press and his fans.

He would never allow a situation that would bring Hange any harm however the brunette thinks it wasn't quite fair for his fans not to get a truthful answer from him who they've been supporting since day one. 

Thus, Levi was left with no choice but to oblige to what Hange wanted. 

They received a lot of backlash after that event. Some were understanding enough to support him, some accepted calmly but some continued to shade their relationship with so much hate. That is inevitable and understandable from a fan's perspective. They couldn't really blame them for acting like that.

"Don't worry... this will pass, okay?" Hange soothes him one night when Levi read an article that degraded Hange as a person and even heavily implied that he was blind enough to like her. 

Little by little, the hatred did eventually pass.

After a year, Levi did retire as planned. Oddly enough, Mike quits his job together with him and opened a pastry shop, a business he ran together with his fiancée Nanaba. 

Time passed rather fast. In a blink of an eye, Hange and Levi had already dated for three years. It was the start of them slowly going public, not caring for the prying eyes that would immediately dart towards them as they strode down the road. 

They wanted to experience things like how typical lovers normally do. Levi was contented enough for this. Finally living the normal life he had always wanted. 

It took them five years. Five years until Levi finally placed a ring on her finger. 

And of course, the answer was yes.

This blew up in the tabloid and the showbiz talked about them for a month after the revelation. This time, the hatred seemed to lessen down and everyone was openly supporting them. Happy for the good news.

Finally, Levi thinks, staring at Hange who's snoring like a pig on their bed. He stared at the ring on her finger, disbelief still overruling his system and feeling triumph over his choice of asking for her hand in marriage.

Fucking finally.

\--

There were murmurings, whispers and the pacing of the people's walk went slower. They had their eyes on a certain raven-haired man who was running down the street just now, wearing a plain huge white sweater and patted blue jeans. He was huffing, ignoring the eyes watching him, determined to get on the place in mind already.

Levi was in a hurry, overslept in his own place, and forgotten to ask Mike to come and fetch him. That huge oaf is probably in there anyway. 

When he reached the huge looming building of a certain someone's library, he immediately stepped inside and the opening of the doors chimed the bell swinging overhead. 

There were only a couple of people inside. The library strictly closed for the day. He spotted a certain trio, talking to each other in slight hushes. While Eren and Armin were talking animatedly, Mikasa was beside Eren, looking flustered. 

Well, the intertwined fingers underneath the table weren't left unnoticed by Levi.

He roamed his eyes around, finally saw the certain brunette and blond happily discussing something, a book sprawled out on the table. For some odd reason, annoyance crept unto Levi's system as he walked towards the two. 

Without a word, he sat next to Hange and only Erwin paused from the conversation to greet him. 

"Hey, Levi," He calls out, a pleased look on his face. "You weren't exactly exaggerating when you said you had such a brilliant fiancee."

"Oh no," Hange giggled, turning to the raven-haired beside her. "You really said something like that about me, shorty?"

Levi rolled his eyes at her, crossing his arms in the process. "It was a long time ago, Hange. You're filled with so much shit right now."

A hearty laugh came out from the brunette, linking her arm with him, Levi didn't say a word and just let her be. Of course, something like that comes off as something natural for the two who had been dating for so many years now. 

He glanced at her, her hand still on his arm as she continued to ramble to the blond in front. It was actually irritating Levi. The fact that she had been ignoring him for a while now, talking to Erwin like he's the only person in the vicinity.

Levi didn't last any longer. He abruptly stood up, prompting Hange to remove her hold on him. However, even this wasn't enough for her to pause her ramblings and take notice of him. Extremely offended at this, Levi stormed away from the table.

That stupid four-eyes. If all she does is talking to Erwin about shit even Levi does not know of, then they should just hurry up and spend their whole lives with each other. He cursed mentally, knowing deep down that something like that deemed no chances in the future. He knows Erwin doesn't even like Hange romantically. He knows Hange loves him. But still, the sting of jealousy isn't really such a good thing.

In between the bookshelves, he searched for a book that might take his attention, pulling him away from such hideous thoughts he has in mind. He noticed an empty spot from the upper shelf. Slowly, a thought came into mind. He roamed his eyes around, confirming the familiar racks and the familiar space. 

It was where Hange pulled out the first book she had given him. 

Damn. Such a long time ago now, huh? Tiptoeing a little bit, he reached for the book beside it. He had finished reading the first part. It was definitely a masterpiece and Hange was right to recommend it to him. 

But before he could get the book, a figure loomed over him, an arm reached for the book first instead. The presence he felt behind him was enough confirmation to know who it was. Thus, he turned around to the brunette to send her a look of annoyance. 

Hange had him caged between her arms. The raven-haired continued to look at her with the same bored look on his face. What does she want this time? Levi thinks, staring straight into her hazel irises, trying to intimidate her to stop whatever farces she had come up with this time. 

"You suddenly left..." She was smirking, a teasing look on her face. Leaning on closer, Levi could only shudder as he felt her breath on his ear. "Were you jealous, Levi?"

He clicked his tongue in annoyance. Annoyed at Hange for whatever reason. Annoyed at her for making him feel this way. 

Flustered, Levi turned his to the other side, opposite to where her face is. "Why would I be jealous of your sorry-ass? Don't be shitty---"

He stopped mid-sentence when she felt Hange's teeth grazed on his neck making him groan in pain. Damn her... Levi mentally thinks, his eyes shut close as he felt Hange sucked on the pain she herself inflicted. 

The brunette leaned away, now staring straight into his face. Levi opened his eyes, gazes towards her hazel one immediately. Furrowing his brows, he brought a finger on his neck, touching the spot where Hange sucked. 

"Tch. I told you not to leave marks, four-eyes."

Before he could say anything further, he could only revel in the feeling when Hange kissed him. Levi exactly knew why Hange was acting this way. This is just herself teasing him. She must've been happy at the fact that he was kind of jealous about Erwin, provoking her to do such things to him. 

Levi wasn't exactly enjoying this. He hates not to be the one in control. He hates how he's slowly surrendering to how good Hange feels against his lips. Thus, without further warning, he pushed her, trying to take over the dominance. 

Hange now had her back against another shelf. The book on Hange's hand fell down on the floor, emitting a sound throughout the whole place. They continued to make out until Levi's hands slowly crept inside her shirt, in contact with her bare skin. 

Before it could reach the upper part of the brunette's body, a stack of books suddenly continuously plopped down the floor. 

They turned to whoever disrupted their time with each other and was met with the horrified look on Moblit's face. 

"I...I was just trying to check what the noise was all about... I...I didn't mean to see this—" Moblit stopped his ramblings, as he immediately ducked down and picked up the books on the floor. 

Before he could run away from the scene, Mike walks in and still finds the two stuck to each other, staring at his direction.

"You two..." The blond sighed. "I know you're getting engaged soon but... go get some room."

The brunette was about to say something to Mike, probably a joke to ease the mood but Levi had other plans as he clicked his tongue in annoyance and removed his hand from the inside of her shirt. Pulling on her wrist, Levi shot Mike an irritated glare before stepping away from the scene with Hange in tow. 

"Oh! Are we doing it?" Hange beamed, chuckling a little to herself. 

Levi Ackerman is an impatient man. 

Getting pulled inside her bedroom, Hange was surprised to feel Levi pushing her down the bed. She fell in a soft thud and before she could recompose herself, the raven-haired was already on top of her. 

Hange gave a playful smile. "You're so sexy when you try to act like that, Levi."

"Are you admitting that you're a submissive one, Hange?" Levi raised an eyebrow, sitting up and unbuttoning his clothes. "Remove that shitty glasses from your face. Such a hindrance."

Laughing, the brunette removed the glasses off. Things escalated quickly. Soon enough, they were both covered in each other's sweat, huffing out and groaning. Hange was moaning non-stop, calling after Levi's name. Things soon died down, with Levi sitting up once again and took time to appreciate such a view of Hange.

She was in a disheveled state. Eyes glinted in unshed tears, face red and lips agape open. It was Hange's look after sex and it was what Levi secretly liked the most. Well, not exactly the most since a smiling and happy Hange is his favorite. 

Looking up at Levi, the brunette suddenly raised both her arms at him. "Levi... let's cuddle."

"Sure."

On the mattress, stuck in each other's arm, Levi's thoughts wandered towards a lot of things.

"Hey, Hange..." He whispered, caressing her brunette strands of hair. "You know... it took me a couple of turns that day just to get to you."

Hange hummed and a funny thought came in mind. 

"Isn't this ironic? Mister clean freak thinks getting through dirt was worth it." She laughed and Levi irritatedly tightened his hold on her. "Le-levi... you're suffocating me!"

"Shut up."

Deep down, Levi really thinks that everything was indeed worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There weren't a lot of dramas in this fic and I decided to go through with a happy end. There is actually a Hange-centered POV after this. It's a one-shot and it pictures out their relationship from Hange's own perspective from the beginning to end. 
> 
> THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR READING THIS UNTIL THE END!!
> 
> oh btw, i just remembered that i wrote this fic on a whim while i was studying for exams HAHAHA good thing i actually managed to finish this!


End file.
